THE KITCHEN GARDEN 243 



distinctively named as the Broad Bean ; for I know 

 no plant that in nearly all its parts and phases and 

 aspects displays so visibly the quality of breadth. 

 What pair of seed-leaves are so absurdly broad ? and 

 how broad is the leaf and the pod and the bean 

 within, and how thick the stem ! But as if to redeem 

 the Broad Bean from a certain stiffness and want of 

 grace shown by the whole plant, there is the pretty 

 flower of white and black; the white of the soft 

 quality that is seen in white velvet, and the black the 

 richest of brown-blacks, also of a velvety texture. 



What a delicious early summer fragrance is that 

 of a flowering Bean-field, when the sweet scent is 

 offered up as a grateful gift to the life-giving sun, and 

 the kindly breeze blows a share of it aside to gladden 

 the heart of the wayfarer. And then the Clover-field, 

 delicious also with sun-released, wind-blown sweetness, 

 less luscious than the breath of the Bean-flower, but 

 with a modest, honeyed homeliness that bears with it 

 an even greater charm. 



The first tender little green Peas, how delicious 

 they are ; their delicate sweetness makes them 

 almost more like some dainty fruit than a serious 

 food-stuff such as comes under the rude general 

 classification of " green vegetables " ; and how good 

 are the first dwarf French Beans, and what a 

 staunch friend of late summer and autumn is the 

 trusty Scarlet Runner, 



