420 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 6. 1884. 
the climate of the south of England is similar to that of the district in 
which the fruit was grown, and he is consequently of opinion that the 
Japan Plum would succeed in favourable positions in this country.”] 
HISTORICAL JOTTINGS ON VEGETABLES. 
THE RADISH AND THE HORSERADISH. 
In their researches after our native species plant-collectors 
meet occasionally with the wild Radish, which, like many others 
in the Cresswort or Cruciferous order, has a partiality for waste 
land, where we may pick its white or lilac flowers veined with 
darker shades, and it is in the chalk or limestone districts it is 
most likely to show itself. The Sea Radish, with its primrose- 
coloured llowers, haunts the cliffs, especially on the western 
coast of England. Neither of these, however, were the pro¬ 
genitors of the garden Radish, w'hich is commonly stated by 
botanists, upon rather insuSicient evidence, to be a native of 
China. Both Greeks and Romans knew and grew the plant 
2000 years, or longer. The Greek name is thought to have been 
suggested by the rapid increase of the plant; the Latin may be 
connected with “radix,” because the root is conspicuous and 
capable of excessive increase in size. The Anglo-Saxon “ raidic ” 
po.nts to the same source. Its history as an Egyptian plant is 
of great but undefinable antiquity. Pliny states that the natives 
of that country grew it, auiongst other reasons, that they might 
obtain oil from the seeds; and they had this inducement to culti¬ 
vate it, the Radish was not liable to the tribute or tax which was 
chargeable upon corn. All admitted, in Pliny’s day, the excel¬ 
lence of Radishes grown in Egypt, explainable, he says, by the 
fact that the plants were sprinkled or watered with a solution of 
nitre; he advises, therefore, the selection of brackish places for 
the culture of the vegetable. He appears to have been acquainted 
with both the long and the Turnip variety, and he mentions that 
one kind grown in Italy, and which was pulled during the winter, 
was raised from seeds produced in Syria. Some of the finest he 
had seen were obtained from a cold district of northern Germany. 
Of one transparent variety sold in Rome, he observes that it was 
so clear a person could see through it. We have Radishes semi¬ 
transparent certainly, but not one rivalling this ancient sort. 
Though in some parts of France and Switzerland, and even 
in our island, some medicinal value is ascribed to the Radish, its 
repute is now small to what it was in the olden time. On the 
Continent they roast the roots under the ashes of the hearth, or 
compound a Radish syrup, both being used for hoarseness and 
chest affections. The Greek physicians declared that Radishes 
were a cure for consumption, dropsy, scurvy, excellent as a 
general antiscorbutic or diuretic. They appear to have recom¬ 
mended that the root be boiled ere taken, to remove all acrimony. 
Not so the Romans, they advised the sick to eat Radishes with 
salt before they took breakfast. A Pagan superstition w^as that 
the Radish served as a preventive and antidote in the case of 
poisons, either external or internal. It is quite probable the 
monks and others may have grown the Radish during the Middle 
Ages, though we do not read of it till we come to Hill’s “ Art of 
Gardening,” published in 1568. He speaks of it as a vegetable 
then well known to husbandmen and citizens, to the poor as well 
as the rich. Gerard, when making reference to it about twenty 
years after, implies that the variety chiedy grown then was one 
white and semi-transparent. A black or purplish variety, 
common on the Continent for centuries, did not obtain English 
patronage, but the pink and the wNite Turnips were ap¬ 
proved, though for a time the long Radish was supposed to be 
the more wholesome. Some persons still cut the young leaves to 
eat with Mustard and Cress as small salad. Our forefathers, 
however, did not disdain the mature leaves, which were boiled 
and eaten in the manner of Spinach; also they occasionally 
allowed the plant to go to seefl, and pickled the green pods in 
•luly or August. Radishes of the monstrous size that are said 
to have been grown by the Romans would offer no temptations 
to modern epicures. We read of a Radish that weighed 40 lbs., 
of another 60, and another 80, but there is surely some exagge¬ 
ration here. One author states that immense Radishes were 
produced by making a largish hole in the earth, filling this up 
with chaff nearly to the surface, placing then a seed therein, 
which was covered with dung and leaf mould mixed, and in time 
the root would increase so as to fill the hole. “ White Radish ! ” 
apq ears in a list of old London cries, presumed to be of the date 
of Charles 11., the price two bunches a penny, but as we do not 
know the size of the bunches we cannot tell if they were cheaper 
two centuries ago than at present. 
The Horseradish acquired, in all probability, its distinctive 
name in our vernacular through its size, “ horse ” being formerly 
attached to suiidry objects to express bigness, just as the word 
“dog,” in a compound name, implied contempt or dislike 
Although the record of the street cries of Old London contains 
a large number of vegetables thus vended, the Horseradish is not 
amongst them, nor have we ever observed it on the barrows of 
the costermonger who struggles for existence in this age of 
cheapness. It is, and has been, a vegetable for the few rather 
than the many. There is really no evidence of any value that it 
is a plant alluded to by Dioscorides and Pliny, and we have to 
date its history from 1530, when it was satisfactorily described 
by Brunsfels. It is found wild throughout Europe, having appa¬ 
rently a liking for hilly ground, but there have been some who 
regard it as a doubtful native of Britain, supposing that the 
specimens met with have escaped from cultivation. And m 
gardens the Horseradish has often received very careless treat¬ 
ment, being planted in some odd corner of the kitchen garden, 
or on a patch that has been made the receptacle of a promiscuous 
assortment of vegetables and flowers. No arrangement for its 
culture and periodic removal has been carried out, and in conse¬ 
quence there have been sundry instances where other roots have 
been dug up and eaten for Horseradish, especially the highly 
dangerous root of the Monkshood. That any person could eat a 
portion of this, however, and think for a moment that he was 
palating Horseradish, implies a sad lack of discernment, almost 
to be compared to the obtuseness of those ill-starred individuals 
who swallow oxalic acid in mistake for Epsom salts. 
The botanist Gerarde, of Elizabethan history, xvas acquainted 
with this species as a garden plant, and also as one growing wild, 
and he evidently believed it was a British species. He had 
noticed it in several localities, and names Namptwich, Cheshire, 
a place he calls “ Milne-eye,” not known to us. Moreover his 
esteemed friends. Master Bredwell and Master Martin, had dis¬ 
covered the plant near Hogsdon (Hoxton) not far from London, 
growing in a field between that village and Kingsland, where it 
tiourished many years. He imagines that the Germans were the 
first to use the Horseradish at the table. They “ stamped” it, 
and mixed it with vinegar as a sauce for fish. The French 
physicians had given the scraped root to expel worms, also they 
infused it to form an emetic draught. Outwardly it was applied 
to raise blisters, or a small quantity steeped in milk was used to 
form a cosmetic. Some also prepared a syrup or sweet infusion 
from it, which was taken in a variety of complaints, so that 
formerly its value as a condiment was rivalled by its importance 
as a natural medicine. A preparation from the Horseradish is 
still recognised by medical authorities, and it is an undeniable 
fact that the effect of this plant upon the human body is a very 
wholesome one as a deobstruent and a purifier. 
The market gardeners at one period grew Horseradish, I 
think, more extensively than they do now, though it was con¬ 
sidered to be an objection against it that at first the return of 
profit was slow, owing to the time it required. From its being 
partial to a moist and loamy soil, the banks of the Thames near 
London came to be selected for its culture, where acres of it 
might have been seen about Battersea, Bermondsey, and other 
suburbs. Perhaps it has since lost favour owing to the multi¬ 
plication and extensive advertisement of a great variety of 
sauces. Having the remarkable property of reproducing itself 
from a fragment of the root, there is no difficulty in growing it 
upon the sa.me gx’ound year by year, when portions of the root 
have been taken up and stored for winter use, the smaller fibres 
left in the trench will produce a successional supply. Both 
Knight and Judd advise planting it in February or March, but 
Knight preferred buds from old plants, and Judd cut about 
3 inches from the top of a root.—J. R. S. C. 
NATIONAL CARNATION, PICOTEE, AND AURICULA 
SOCIETIES (SOUTHERN SECTION). 
I HAD not intended to send any communication to the papers in 
answer to Mr. Dodwell’s letters. It seemed belter to avoid any contro¬ 
versy, and I will try to do so now as far as it may be personal to myself. 
Since that decision I have been advised that Mr. Dodwell is taking steps 
to resist the action of the Committee. It is therefore, I think, only fair 
that I shculd try to ju.stify my own action in the matter and also that of 
the Committee. As soon as I had finally decided to resign my office as 
co-Secretary, I believe amongst the first persons I made acquainted with 
my decision was Mr. Dodwell. I ultimately wrote to him, asking him to 
summon a meeting for October 14th. He could have called a general 
meeting or a committee meeting, I did not care which. He refused to do 
so, but wrote to me an evasive letter. I say this to show that the manner 
of summoning the meeting was left in the first place in Mr. Dodwell’s 
hands. The next step I took was to summon a meeting for the 14th, and 
Mr. Dodwell was invited to attend. He knew why the meet ng was 
summoned, the members of Committee I think did not. I ultimately, as 
I thought, wrote to all the members with the exception of two, who 
I knew could not attend, but I copied from the wrong list and omitted 
