and on its Rural and Domestic EconomT/. 223 



gently as the shoot increases ; it is by far the neatest grafting 

 composition that I know. In very hot weather, a little more 

 resin may be added, to prevent the composition from melting. 



Plums, as standards, are generally very prolific bearers. The 

 green gage (la reine Claude) bears sometimes very well as a 

 standard ; the fruit is not so large as on a wall, but it has a very 

 fine flavour. 



Apricots, when not too old, are good bearers as standards, 

 particularly in the fat greasy ground in the town ; in the sandy 

 soil in the country they are apt to run too much to wood, with- 

 out producing fruit. 



Strawberries are very small, and inferior to those in England ; 

 the alpine kinds (or, as they are here called, the perpetuals) ap- 

 pear to be most liked. The soil, however, is by far too sandy 

 and dry to produce good crops ; and, if rain falls during the 

 time the fruit is ripening, it is almost impossible to eat it, from 

 the quantity of sand with which it is covered. 



The soil here is rather too dry for gooseberries, and the sun 

 too powerful : they produce plenty of fruit, but much smaller 

 than in England. 



Raspberries, also, are very prolific ; and, if a bucketful of 

 liquid manure be applied to the roots in March and April, will 

 make astonishing shoots during the summer. 



Currants ripen well here, but do not grow to so large a size as 

 in England. 



The vegetables in this country are for the most part good; 

 but such as require a good deal of moisture and a strong soil 

 are difficult to be met with fine. In the first place, asparagus 

 will always hold the first rank ; for I know of no place where 

 finer is grown than in the neighbourhood of Ghent. It can be 

 eaten within a quarter of an inch of the eod. It is of excellent 

 flavour; nearly all white, with the top tipped with green; and 

 the bundles consist of a hundred heads. 



The Brussels sprouts must be accounted the next best vege- 

 table. The plant here grows to about 3 ft. or 4 ft. in height ; 

 and is covered from top to bottom with its little round sprouts, 

 which, when touched by the frost, have a slight taste of marrow. 

 Sown in February, they can be eaten in September ; but those 

 sown about the 22d of March I consider to be the best, as they 

 come into eating just after the first November frosts, and last till 

 the March following. Brussels sprouts ought never to be eaten 

 before the plant is touched by the frost; and in this it resembles 

 the savoy, which also grows here very fine in the winter: but I 

 am inclined to think the Brussels sprouts much the hardier of 

 the two. Brussels sprouts have supported, in my garden, with- 

 out injury, more than 10° of frost, by Reaumur's thermometer. 



Celery here grows very fine ; which, from the dryness of the 



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