124 Gleanings in Old Garden Literature. 



are propagated from seed." He goes at 

 greater length into the method of propagation 

 than I have any commission or need to do ; 

 but I may just note that he judged it time 

 to let the plants run to seed, when green peas 

 and the Jerusalem artichoke came in. 



Evelyn, in his letter to Lord Sandwich, 

 August 2isr, 1668, confirms his lordship's 

 estimate of the wild asparagus in Lincolnshire 

 and elsewhere, and describes it as " small and 

 bitter, and not comparable to the cultivated." 



The practice of salting vegetables in early 

 days probably arose from the imperfect know- 

 ledge of the succession of sorts, especially in 

 the north, rather than from their scarcity. 

 But it appears that so late as 1595 high 

 prices were still paid for imported cabbages 

 and carrots. At a later date, Hull was a 

 celebrated mart for cabbages and onions, of 

 which the latter were sold, as now, by the 

 rope. From abroad, particularly from the 

 Netherlands, new varieties found their way 

 to us, and a specimen for seed was, of 

 course, at all times a welcome gift either to 

 the professional or private grower. 



