Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1855-08-08
History of some of our Vegetables.

I IIistorv of some of our Vegetables.
The history of some of our fruits and vegetables
| is. in MANY respects, extremely curious. Inc
artichoke. we fnd was so highly esteemed in
Rome. that an arbitrary law was enacted TO pre-
vent commoners from eating it. Basil, which now
stands So high that London alderman would
spurp basin of turtle made without it, was 2U0
wears before Christ, condemned by Chrysyppup
as an enemy to the sight, and robber ofthe wits.
Plny saws thew sowed the seeds with maedictlons
and i'll Notwithstanding that the more it was cur
sed the better it would prosper, as is said of pigs
! in ireland in the present day. So highly was the
cabbaue esteemed by the ancients, that two OF
their leading physicians each wrote book upon
il and philip saws that the ancient Romans, hav
inu banished doctors out of their territories pre-
served their health for six hundred years, and
soothed their inirmties by the use of this veget-
able alone. From an anecdote related by Hero
dotus. il is event that lettnces were served at the
roval tables of the Persian kings for five or six
| hundred wears before the Christian era; but they
only knew one sort which was black variety
According TO Ovid, mint Mas used by the anclents
10 perfume their tSales - ,,bbing the leaves up
on them before serving the supper and Pny says,
at the consultation of physicians in his chamber,
! it was decided that chapet of pennyroyal was
better for giddiness and swimming in the head
than one of roses. Mushrooms were great dam
ty with the voluptuous Romans and one OF the
poisonous sorts was used by Agripplna to destroy
| her husband Tiberus Claudius. Mustard must
have been cultivated upon the earth, In SYRIA, al
the time Of our Saviour-aS ii is mentioned IN one
of his beautiful parallels as being the least SEED
that was sown in the field. Garlic was In use as
early as the onion, and the want OF both was Ia
mented by the lsraelites in the Wilderness. ne
Egyptians worshipped garlic, and were SAID J. 10
wish that they might enjoy 1t in Paradise; "n'le
the Greeks held it IN such adherence lhat tney
regarded thuse who ate II as proane. ne Ito
mans gave it TO their laborers and soldiers to
strengthen them, and to their gamecocKs preVl-
ously 10 fighting them. Parsley was IN great re-
pute in the time Of Plny, and the Emperor IL
berius held parsnips in such high esteem, that nc
had them annually brought from Germany, near
the Rhine to Rome So highly did the Greeks
esteem radishes, that they in Offering obatons 10
Apollo, presented turnips in wood, beet FOOT IN
silver. and radishes in beaten gold. At that pe-
riod they far exceeded in size the radshes OF Inc
nresent 3ay. and some weighed as much as forty
to eighty pounds Thyme was imported to Rome
from Athens for the sake of ,he bees, and water
cress was eaten with salad TO eounteract the cold
effects OF the latter vegetable.
The large drum-h headed cabbage is used eXten-
sve!y throughout Germany and the north OF f+u'
rope for making sour kTam As We nave ih'ro
duced and naturaliz the German Christmas Tree
we know not how soon the sour kranl may iol
low, and here, therefore, is the receipt: he ca :.
bare heads are cut into small shreds, and are pack
ed in barrels or tubs, along with vinegar, 10 whici
salt and cloves are added in this state they are
preserved in excellent condition I'LL late IN the
lsp-inu When used, ii is stewed over slow hre
and served up with most kinds OF meat: hspar'
agus comes from the salt water steps oil the hor'i
Iof Russia and was said 10 attain an extraordinary
size on the banks Of the Euphrates. The hrs
time we hear of this vegetable is In the time OF
Cato the Elder, 200 years before Christ. The
Emperor Augustus was very partial to II and a
Ravenna it crew to such size that three heads
weiqhed pound, Mr., Grayson, of Mortlake
near London, has produced 100 heads that weigh
ed As pounds, perhaps the largest ever grown 10
Great Britain and hundreds of acres around the
metropolis are devoted TO its cultivation. Iht
small heads are sometimes cut into pieces anc
boed, as substitute for green peas Medicinal y
it is considered an,iscorbutic, and very good If
dropsical cases but it is avoided by those having
the rout. The most extraordinary virtue IS tha
Iascribed to it bv Antoine Mizold who says, II the
root is put upon a tooth that aches violently, Il
causes it TO come out without paln. Our ihoueIi
dentists will, we are sure, thank Us tor this IN
formation. In no country are the salads more cui
tvated than in France. The rich eat them as
luxury, the pnor as necessity. 1 ne arlisahS ~
our large manufacturing towns are every year oe
coming greater consumers of lettuces, radlShes
and celery, and find benefit from their use but III
England we never meet such excellent saiaos rs
Al 4 ,lo,oe in HnIIqnh
pium. and France. Water-cre we learn, is one
of the most Wholesome Of our salad herbs, and one
of the oldest in USE lis qualities are warm and
stimulatinr-he reverse of nearly all other raw
vegetables Xenophon recommended 1t to The
persians, and the Romans gave it to those whose
minds were deranged. Hence the Greek proveroD
Fat cress. and have more wit" 1t is an excel
lent antiscorbutic and said so easily produced
and so important to the health of towns people.
cannot be too highly recommended. Ihe daily
supply at Covent Garden is about o,O0O punches
but II is said if twice as many more punches were
brought in they would be all sold.
Carrots come from Holland and. IN the Time o
Queen Elizabeth the leaves were used IN The
head dresses of the ladies' of her court Excellent
bread can he made Of the white carrots. Inc
potato belongs to class of poisonous roots; ana
the extract of the leaves and stems is powerful
narcotic, while the tubers afford wholesome and
nutritive food. The potato, when distilled makes
an agreeable brandy the starch OF ;acu9 is palm
ed off as substitute for sago, arro"foot' tapoca-
which is after all q very harmless composition
a lady accidentally discovered that potato-liquor,
in making starch would clean silk, woollen, OF
cotton goods, without injury to the texture or col
or. A size made from the potato Is very superior
to the common size; and yeast, ht irr .he Dakei
or brewer, is made from the roots. Goblet called
it the accursed root and, doubtless, much OF tne
misery that took place in Ireland and the t'ign
lands of Scotland may be traced TO too implicit
reliance on this single article of food. PaIsnlps
contain large proportion of sugar; beer IS made
from them in the north of Ireland. and VINE, close
ly approaching the Malmsey of Madeira, is made
from the roots Marmalade, made with parsnlps
and small quantity of sugar, is SAID TO excite ap-
petite, and is said TO be very good 1000 Tor con
Ivalescents The vine is OF the hghest an'iqniIy,
and always stood well in the world opinion ina
it was cultivated extensively ID tle ahteuiuViah
world we have pretty good evidence. Tor Moan hac
no sooner escaped from the general deluge than ne
set about planting vineyard ana MADE wine
showing that he was not ignorant of the plant. lis
cuIture and its use The vine at time
as much cultivated in Great Britain, for the pur-
pose of wine making, as it is in France.
THE WrEvu, DESTROYED BY YELLOW BIRDS.
Mr. d. II. Roberts, residing on farm in Cole
Vile, New York. communicates the following i'm
porant discovery to the Bnghampton Republ-
can:
"a neighboring farmer wished he would get
qnn and kil some yellow birds, which farmers
generally suppose destroy the wheat Mr.. It.
I5eol;naJ ,s he d1es not like to kill birds of any
Kind 0nt of curiosity, however, he killed one
of the birds and opened its crop, when he found
that the bird. instead of eating the wheat, eat the
..A0..I .ho nrnat DESTROYER of wheat He found