220 11011TICULTURAL TOUR. 



the supply of this great metropolis. Both sides of the ca- 

 nal were crowded with punts, fully laden with all sorts of 

 vegetable provisions. These, as fast as they are landed, 

 are bought, chiefly by retailers, who have in waiting huge 

 wheel-barrows, — about nine feet in length, the body of the 

 barrow occupying six feet, — by means of which great piles 

 of kitchen-stuffs are conveyed from the quay to all parts of 

 the city. 



Late caul\flower was brought in vast heaps, the flower, 

 or eatable part, being large, and packed so as to be covered 

 with the long leaves. In many cases, where the boats had 

 come from a great distance, the mass of cauliflower had be- 

 gun to undergo the process of fermentation ; the heat was 

 very perceptible to the hand, and the flower was discolour- 

 ed. Where this had not happened, the quality of the cauli- 

 flower, in size, colour, and curd-like consistence, was unex- 

 ceptionable ; and if the Dutch, as is reported, used former- 

 ly to send to England for this vegetable, it is certain that 

 they now have no occasion to do so. Potatoes arrived 

 in great profusion, and were immediately carried off in 

 wheel-barrows to store-cellars in the neighbourhood. Car- 

 rots * were also very abundant, and at the same time excel- 

 lent, being large, smooth, and clean. A kind of long carrot, 

 intermediate between our horn and red carrot, was com- 

 mon : on account of its thick shape throughout, it affords a 

 larger proportion of pulpy matter than the common spindle- 

 form red, and it is both juicy and tender : this variety may 

 therefore deserve the attention of the Society *|\ A pale red 



• In Holland the carrot is commonly called Geck-pcen, or yellow pin; 

 the term Caroot being usually applied to the red beet. 



•f The /I It ring ham carroty introduced in 1810 to the neighbourhood of 

 Edinburgh by Mr George Dickson, from Cheshire, possesses similar good 

 'politics, and deserves to be more generally known. It is often called the 



