186 GARDENS PAST AND PRESENT 



spinach, known to me as being commonly used 

 in some parts of England, notably in Lincolnshire, 

 under the name of Mercury ; and strangely enough, 

 for it is very good, that one is rejected on the 

 Continent. At least, I have more than once found 

 it growing wild abroad, and have pointed it out 

 as a good substitute for spinach ; but the sug- 

 gestion has always been, politely, indeed, but 

 coldly, received. Yet one cannot help thinking 

 that some of those worthy cloth weavers of Bra- 

 bant must have made the discovery that it was 

 fit for food, and bequeathed the knowledge to their 

 English hosts. In the same way our field mush- 

 room finds no favour abroad, while many kinds 

 of fungus, especially in Italy, which we should 

 scarcely venture to taste, are common articles of 

 food though it is true that they are offered for 

 sale only after strict municipal supervision. 



In spite of the quotation from the " Legacy of 

 Husbandry" given above, there is scarcely a 

 vegetable now grown that was not known to 

 Parkinson, which shows what strides had been 

 made in gardening within a short period ; but his 

 was no common garden, and he himself was much 

 in advance of his time. It is rather a curious fact, 

 so strong has insular prejudice always been, that 

 many of those in common use to-day had to serve 

 a long probation before being received into favour 

 potatoes, for example, and Jerusalem artichokes. 

 Of quite late years some have admitted sorrel into 

 their gardens, and have learned to blanch chicory 

 for salads barbe de capucin and witloef, as our 

 French and Belgian neighbours call it, accord- 



