74 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the kitchen are thrown on one side, and ultimately pitched into 

 the pig-tub, cannot help being disheartened, especially when he 

 happens to have had quite a different experience with cooks 

 worthy of the name. I hold that employers do not inquire suffi- 

 ciently into the capabilities of cooks, or, at any rate, they attach 

 far too much importance to their skill in concocting a variety of 

 messes, and not nearly enough to their ability to serve vegetables 

 to the best advantage. Judging from what I have seen of 

 French cooks, they are far superior to their British rivals in the 

 matter of cooking vegetables, and the same rule holds good when 

 we compare the average British housewife with her French con- 

 temporary. As a nation we do not half appreciate the value of a 

 good supply of vegetables, and it is only when there is a great 

 scarcity of a few popular kinds that the merits of others less well 

 known are tested or realised. A change of diet is considered in- 

 dispensable, and rightly so, by doctors generally, and this change 

 ought to comprise a far greater variety of vegetables than is 

 usually the case. 



It is scarcely possible, within the limits of a single paper, to 

 comment at length upon the various winter vegetables that I shall 

 mention ; cultural details are also out of the question, but there 

 are a few points that deserve emphasising. The commoner kinds, 

 or those principally relied upon by the owners of (or those in 

 charge of) comparatively small gardens, and also for supplying the 

 markets, consist of Brussels Sprouts, Borecole, Broccoli, Savoys, 

 Cabbage, Celery, and Leeks, and such roots as Potatos, Onions, 

 Carrots, Turnips, and perhaps Salsafy and Scorzonera. Of these 

 the first six are liable to fail badly during a severe winter, and it 

 is then that the owner of a good garden derives full benefit from 

 his liberality in the matter of providing forcing-houses, pits, 

 frames, boards, mats, and last but not least, a good well-heated 

 Mushroom-house. Without some or all of these aids it is scarcely 

 possible for the gardener to meet the requirements of many em- 

 ployers ; but with them he can, if so minded, work wonders. 

 Not only would he be enabled to protect and save many vege- 

 tables that would otherwise be lost, but he would also be in a 

 position to force or forward a variety of other choicer kinds. My 

 advice to employers, therefore, is to first give their gardeners all 

 reasonable facilities in the w T ay suggested, and then, but not till 

 then, insist on being well supplied with winter vegetables. 



