290 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



or French; and one might almost suspect that a 

 taste for sweet things was in the inverse ratio of 

 culture. At any rate, one can thus explain why 

 many vegetable productions which some cen- 

 turies ago were reckoned among tlie most agree- 

 able dishes appear to us to be nauseously sweet." 



For some time after tlie cultivation of skirrets 

 had become neglected in the gardens of the rich, 

 they still continued to be an object of culture 

 among the poor in a few remote parts of the 

 country. But even in those situations tliey 

 have now very generally given way to the potato, 

 and are seldom grown, and even then rather from 

 the love of variety tlian for any superior pro- 

 perties they may possess. In the north of Scot- 

 land this plant was cultivated under the name 

 of crummack. 



Silver Weed, (potentilla anserina.) A creep- 

 ing plant belonging to the natural family Rosaceie, 

 and very common by waysides, and in waste 

 places; known also under the name of goose- 

 grass. The leaves are interruptedly and deeply 

 pinnate, of a silvery shining aspect. The flower 

 is a pretty yellow. The roots are oblong, and 

 sometimes attain a considerable size. These are 

 amylaceous when roasted or boiled, and resemble 

 in taste the chestnut. In spring, when the fields 

 were ploughed up, these used to be gathered by 

 the inhabitants of many parts of Scotland, and 

 eaten either raw or roasted. It is not improba- 

 ble but cultivation might increase these roots 

 to a considerable size. The plant is hardy, and 

 extremely prolific, as it spreads by runners as 

 well as by seeds. 



Celery (apium graveolens). This is a hardy 

 biennial plant, a native of Britain, and known 

 in its wild state by the name of smallage. It is 

 frequent by the sides of ditclies and near the sea, 

 where it rises with wedge-shaped leaves and a 

 furrowed stalk, producing greenish flowers in 

 August. The whole plant has a rank coarse 

 taste ; and the effects of cultivation, in producing 

 from it the mild sweet stalks of celery, are not a 

 little remarkable. In its cultivated state it some- 

 times attains an immense size. A head of celery 

 was dug up in 1815, in the neighbourhood of 

 Manchester, which weighed nine lbs. when 

 washed, with the roots and leaves all attached to 

 it, and measured ten feet six inches in height. 

 It was of a red sort, perfectly solid, crisp, firm, 

 and remarkably well flavoured.* The blanched 

 leaf stalks are used raw as a salad from August 

 till March, and are also stewed in soups and other 

 dishes. 



There are several varieties of the cultivated 

 celery, such as the early, red, and white solid, 

 North's upright, tlie turtiip-rooted, or celeriac. 

 The red variety is of a coarse but more hai-dy 

 nature than the others ; and though not so deli- 



* London, 



cate as salad, is well suited for stews and soups. 

 The Italians use the green leaves and stems in 

 their soups, and, as a matter of economy, these 

 impart an agreeable enough flavour to soups; 

 the seeds also are used in a similar manner. The 

 celeriac, or turnip-rooted, is a hardy kind. The 

 root is the only part used. It attains to a very 

 considerable size, especially in Germany, where 

 it is much esteemed, either as entering into the 

 composition of mixed dishes, or prepared by it- 

 self. For this purpose it is divested of the ex- 

 ternal skin and fibres. The boiled root sliced 

 when cold, and mixed with oil and vinegar, is 

 considered a very choice salad. Celeriac is occa- 

 sionally imported from Hamburgh into Britain; 

 but it is not generally cultivated in our gardens. 

 According to Mr Ellis, it is easier cultivated than 

 the other kinds, and requires less space. The 

 knob-roots, however, have a constant tendency 

 to degenerate, or return to the natural type. 



The best soil for celery is a rich deep vegetable 

 mould. The seed is sown in spring, and if 

 wished to be early, may be forced in a hot-bed. 

 When the plants are from two to four inches 

 high, the seed-bed is thinned, and those removed 

 are transplanted from them to six inches apart 

 from each other, in an intermediate bed. They 

 remain in this situation till they become vigor- 

 ous plants, of from six to twelve inches high ; 

 tliey are then finally transplanted, and generally 

 into trenches. The plants are placed at from 

 five to ten inches apart, and as they grow up 

 the stems are gradually covered up with earth. 

 This operation being repeated every fortnight, 

 till at length they are covei-ed to one, and even 

 to two feet high, in order that they may be 

 blanched, and thus a considerable portion be 

 made edible. By this management celery is ob- 

 tained from August to March; and when tlie 

 soil is favourable and the cultivation skilful, 

 these plants attain to a very large size. 



Parsley (apium petroselinum ) , was known 

 to the Greeks, and received its distinctive name 

 oi petroselinum from Dioscorides. It is said to 

 be a native of Sardinia, whence it was brought 

 into England about the middle of the sixteenth 

 century ; but the plant is of so ancient culture 

 in this country, that the period of its introduc- 

 tion cannot, perhaps, be accurately assigned, and 

 though supposed not to be indigenous to Britain, 

 it is now completely naturalized in various parts 

 both of England and Scotland. It is a hardy 

 biennial plant. 



The principal varieties are the common plain- 

 leaved, the curled-leaved, and the Hamburgh, or 

 broad-leaved. The plain-leaved parsley was the 

 first known in this country ; but it is not now 

 much cultivated, since the leaves are not so hand- 

 some as those of the curled, are of a less brilliant 

 green, and are coarser in flavour. Another rea- 

 son for banishing it from the gardens is its re- 



