FOOD PRODUCTS. 41 



to meet it enormous quantities are brought here from Jersey, 

 France, and other parts of the Continent; and when the 

 season for fresh tomatoes has passed, the tinned fruits from 

 America are ready to take their place. 



Tomatoes are no longer used only for making sauce or 

 for pickling, the fresh fruits . boiled down with sugar make 

 an excellent preserve, scarcely to be distinguished from 

 apricot. Simply boiled in water they are a palatable vege- 

 table, besides which they may be cooked in a variety of 

 other ways, and they make excellent salads, while the tinned 



Cucumber [Cueumis sattDus). 



fruits likewise lend themselves to many forms of culinary 

 treatment. 



The Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is another fruit the 

 cultivation and consumption of which has extended very 

 much during the past few years. Though it has been grown 

 in England from a very early period, it was not generally 

 cultivated till the middle of the fifteenth century, and it is 

 within comparatively recent years that its growth has 

 assumed the proportions we now see. 



Besides frame cucumbers of many varieties, grown espe- 

 cially for table use, the plant is cultivated as a field crop 

 covering extensive areas, particularly in the home counties 



