THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
peas. As for corn, the world does not hold any- 
thing that is nobler in the way of foliage than the 
waving leaves and tassels of this glory of New 
World vegetation. Harriet Martineau, traveling 
through the United States in 1835, notes: “‘ This 
day, I remember, we first tasted green corn, one of 
the most delicious of vegetables, and by some pre- 
ferred to green peas. The greatest drawback is 
the way in which it is necessary to eat it. The cob, 
eight or ten inches long, is held at both ends, and, 
having been previously sprinkled with salt, is nib- 
bled and sucked from end to end, till all the grains 
are got out. It looks awkward enough, but what is 
to be done? Surrendering such a vegetable from 
consideration of grace is not to be thought of.” 
The Egyptians associated the onion with religious 
metaphysics and the hope of immortality. 
The vegetable garden to be a delight must be 
worked with horse-power. Our fathers inherited 
the spade and the hoe, but there were no digging 
forks in those days, and the plow was made of 
wood. Because English gardens were spaded, 
New England gardens were necessarily made in the 
same way. Heredity is nowhere harder to over- 
come than in methods of land tillage. At last a 
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