VEGETABLES. 179 



cured, is another of the grasses. The bamboo, the 

 reeds, and the rush, which are applied to many 

 useful purposes, are also members of the same 

 family. 



Great numbers of vegetables, useful as food, are 

 cultivated in our gardens and fields. Amongst 

 these are cabbages, brocoli, beans, peas, asparagus, 

 cauliflowers, turnips, carrots, potatoes, and many 

 others. The potato, which now forms so necessa- 

 ry a part of our diet, has only been known amongst 

 us about two hundred years. Onions, leeks, garlic, 

 parsley, beets, and radishes, are also grown in 

 gardens, and are called with the rest culinary ^QT 

 garden vegetables. 



Flax is cultivated for the purposes of making 

 linen ; hemp for ropes and matting ; rape for oil ; 

 and hops, used in brewing. Clover, lucern-grass, 

 vetches, Swedish turnips, and others, are cultivat- 

 ed for feeding cattle ; and saffron and madder for 

 the purposes of dyeing cloth ; the one yields a 

 yellow, and the other a red colour, 



Questions, 



-What is fruit, and for what purposes is it useful 1 

 What kinds are common in our country ? 

 Name some of the fruits that abound in hot countries. 

 What plants cover the earth with verdure ? 

 From what do we derive the principal part of our food 1 

 What is it which is commonly called grass ? 

 What remarkable property is possessed by the grasses ? 

 Upon what grain do the inhabitants of hot countries chiefly 

 live? 



