PREFACE 



ix 



most indigestible of all, and there can be no full gain in a garden 

 which does not include the vegetables which are served abroad as 

 dishes by themselves, and indeed are quite worthy to stand alone. 

 Leaving aside those not to be grown in our climate, we have 

 among others Scorzonera, Salsafy, Lettuces, and Endives ; with 

 us there is great waste in not using Lettuces and Endive, and 

 particularly the Batavian Endive, as vegetables ; for good cookery 

 they are far more important than Greens. Celeriac, an excellent 

 vegetable, is rarely well grown with us. Cardoons are first-rate 

 vegetables for our country, for which our soil and climate are 

 well suited. Indian Corn, too, thrives in all the southern parts of 

 the country, and, well grown, forms an excellent vegetable. Then 

 there are Artichokes of the best varieties, edible-podded Runner 

 Beans, edible-podded Dwarf Beans, early small Carrots, such as 

 the French Early Horn, Witloof, Corn Salad, Potiron jaune, and 

 Winter Gourds. The variety of delicious Gourds available during 

 summer, and the keeping kinds through a great part of the winter, 

 is a revelation to those who know nothing beyond the Vegetable 

 Marrow. 



For owners of gardens, big or little, there is waste through not 

 gathering vegetables in the tender state. In almost every garden, in 



summer and autumn, one sees Kidney Beans and Peas 

 ^est^Stage^ in an uneatable state, useless themselves, and robbing 



the plant of the power to give a succession of eatable 

 pods. All such crops should be gathered at the right time, whether 

 wanted or not. Those who want vegetables in their best condition 

 only would find it profitable to gather and give away rather than 

 pursue the usual way of growing only to waste. It is a practice of 

 market g rdeners to allow things to get old and hard before gathering, 

 so as to fill their baskets. They must be the best judges of their own 

 affairs, but this practice is the cause of market vegetables being 

 often almost uneatable. In Paris the cook has the upper hand, and 

 no grower dare send him the woody fibre which is so largely sent 

 as vegetables to the London market. It is an error to suppose that 

 those who grow their own fruits and vegetables must pay more for 

 them than they would in the market. The gain in having them 

 fresh would be worth paying for. The advantage which all who 

 live in their gardens enjoy might be much increased by growing 

 only things good in flavour, and gathering them in their best state 

 for the table. But it needs very strong pressure on the part of 



