The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-07-04
After Dinner.
BY BARRY GRAY.

M man with a cultivated taste re-
cards a dinner as perfect II unaccOm-
nanied with cheese and a salad no
lady is satisfied with 1t unless a dessert
of sweets follows it. Brillat Savaril
it was. | think, who sad a dInatf
without cheese is like a pretty Wolnah
with one eve" and Careme gives Us 10
understand that the dessert was III
vented bv a good mother who wanted
70 retain girls and children at table 50
that their presence might act rs 4 Dre-
y~entive to excessive drinking OF Wtnes
on the part of the gentlemen present.
The dessert, properly speaking, Isl
commingling of tarts, cakes, i1u1ts
and sweet-meatS. The simpler and
more delicate it is the better Tor the
partaker thereof. Careme compares
it to a rock on which many a tomac
is ~shipwrecked, a serious emLarraSS-
ment to the liver, which 1T toD often
harnesses and obstructs. The major
domo of Louis XIII, declared that all
persons who eat a dessert OF a good
dinner are fools, who spoil their wit
and their StOmachS.
Fruits are the least injurious por-
lions of a desert: but it were better
for them to precede instead OF follow
ing the dinner. Melons are sometimes
lHtlOuuCou SItN1
Ices are the most INJURIOUS, Tor
thew chill the stomach, and ar
rest the process of digestion at the
very time when it is most needful tor
it to be going on. The proper time to
| eat fruit is in the morning, on an
( empty stomach. 'sFruit," says al Old
authority, "is as gold in the morning,
as silver at noon, and as lead at night
One or two peaches, pears, plums, or a
bunch of grapes, plucked from the
trees or vines, and eaten beneath their
shadows. before the sun is an hour
high, are the best tonics. The peach,
say the Chinese legends, produces an
eternity of life, and preserves the
body from corruption to the END OF the
world. 1t is we'll, therefore, to eat
freely of this delicious fruit, either
from the hand, or sliced, with sugar
and cream. Pears, too. are equally
healthful. and more readily digested
than peaches: a fine favored pear,
that melts in your mouth, is, if not a
Joy forever, at least a thing of beauty,
and enjoyed while you are eating il.
OF plums there is a good variety,
VARYING greatly in size from the dam
son. the best kind for preserves-no
larger than a cherry-to the magnum-
bonum, as large as an egg; and, also
in color red, purple, green, and vel
low. Many of these are luscious,
succulent, and full favored, with
"a deep embrowned tint, which tells
How rich within the soul Of sweet
ness dwells."
The grape, which is a native of
Asia, is one of the earliest mentioned
fruits in the Scriptures. When the
Israelites sent spies to look at the
promised land they brought back
with them from there a cluster of
grapes. Noah, after the flood, plant
ed a vineyard and made wine from
the grapes thereof. But a later per
sonage than Noah made wine without
grapes. for we read that at a certain
marriage feast He turned water into
wine; or, as the poet prettily puts it:
The conscious water saw its God, and
bluShed."
Grapes are among the most whole
some and grateful of fruits. They are
said to possess medicinal qualities.
and regimen of grapes in the autumn,
continued for three or our weeks, has
III many instances, been productive of
good results. An old authority says:
They open the BODY. create an appe-
tite, are very n~ourishing, and qualify
the sharp humor Of the heart. They
agree With every age and constltu-
ton And how much more agree
able. too. 1T is to partake freely OF
grapes to obtain a like result, than to
be swallowing boxes OF blue pills, bot
ties of castor oil. and doses Of red
salts.
Next to the grape-in England at
least-the gooseberry is regarded with
favor. DR.. johnson was ..enormous-
" fond of it, and one of his friends
preserved a bush of them intact against
his annual visit. Southey. the poet.
liked them 50 well, especially when
preserved III a pie. that he wrote.
In addition to the aforementioned
fruits our tables can always, in the
season thereof. be supplied with straw
berries, cherries, raspberrles, black
berries. and whortleberries. Oranges,
pines, bananas. and other southern
fruits are also plentiful: while apples
are to be obtained the whole year
! round.-HOme journal.