The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-02-06
Where England Fonna Her Vegetables.

said that there were no materials in Eng
land of which to make it. According to
Northwick, this was in 1863. If SO, it
must have been within few months of
the royal marriage, and the young King,
to crafty the wish of his bride, forth
with sent over to Holland for gardeners
to come aud cultivate what was requisite
for the purpose. Our native stock, as in
the case of fruits, appears to have been
remarkably scanty, and, such as they
were, have been for the most part alto
gether superseded by foreign importa-
tions We have, for instance, native
species of cabbage still found here and
in England growing wild; but of the 1877
distinct sam pies mentioned in the Royal
Horticultural Society's Journal for last
July as having been under culture and
examination at Chiswick, probably no
one would own to any relationship with
the scrubby little Indigenous cabbage or
colewort.
There is species of carrot, again,
Indigenous to this country, and it would
seem, indeed, to almost every other
country where light soil is found. In
it's wild state, however, it is scarcely edi-
BILE, being strong and unpleasant in
flavor, and dry and tough in substance.
carrot, sown for two or three years in
rich as well as light soil, will yield ex-
cellent roots. Those who have tried this
experiment., however emphatically deny
the truth of this, and it is probable that
all our present varieties came from
abroad. Some have maintained that the
cultivated carrot came originally from
Flanders, and that it was first grown at
Sandwich, in Kent, in the time Of Eliza
beth, Gerard calls the plant the candia.
Very much the same history may be
given of the parsnip. This, also, is in
digenous, but in it's wild state is worth
less, and our present edible sorts are
from cover the sea-"
Nobody knows precisely where the
potato came from originally. It has
been tound apparently Indigenous in
many parts of the world. Mr.. Darwin,
for instance, found it in the Chonos
Archipelago Sir W. J. Hooker says
that it is common at Valparaiso, where it
grows abundantly on the sandy hills
near the sea. In Peru and other parts
of South America it appears to be at
home, and it is noteworthy fact that
Mr.. Darwin should have noted it both
in the humid forests OF the Chonos
Archipelago and among the central
Chilean mountains, where sometimes
rain does not fall for six months at
stretch It was to the colenists whom
Sir Walter Raleigh sent ont, in Eliza
beth's reign, that we are indebted for our
potatoes. Herriot, who went out with
these colonists, and who wrote an ac-
count of his travels, makes what may,
perhaps, be regarded as the earliest
mention of this vegetable. Under the
heading of ''Roots," he mentions what
he calls the "openawk." s'These roots, !"
he says, 'sare round, some large as
walnut, others much larger; they grow
on damp soils, many hanging together,
as if fixed on ropes; they are good for
food, either boiled or roasted" At the
beginning of the seventeenth century,
Phillips says this root was planted, as
curious exotic, in the gardens of the no.
biiity, but it was long ere it came into
general use. Many held them to be
poisonous, and it would seem not alto
gether unreasonably SO, either. The
potato is closely related to the deadly
nightshade and the mandrake, and from
it's stems and leaves may be extracted a
very powerful narcotic. In Burgundy
the adoption of the potato for food was
for time forbidden by law, being
deemed ''a poisonous and mischievous
root" In England prejudice against it
was for long time very strong, more
especially among the poor. It was be-
lieved to occasion dysentery and leprosy.
Rhubarb was obtained directly from
China. Modern Europe first became ac-
quainted with it in 1885. Our garden
peas are said to have come to us from
France, and were first known as s'Ful-
ham pease, because the grounds about
London, neere Fulham, doe bring them
soonest" The introduction was proba-
bly, in the reign of Henry VIII, whose
honeymoon indulgence OF his brides de-
sire for salads seems to have exerted a
wonderful influence on English horti-
culture. In the reign OF Elizabeth, how
ever, they were still not grown to any
great extent, though they SEEM 70 have
been imported from Holland. Fuller
SAYS ssthey were dainties for ladies, they
came SO far and cost SO dear Gerard
saws that there is one kind-If pea indi-
genous to England. Beams we Appear to
have imported from Morocco, and the
authority last quoted says there is no
difference between the garden bean and
the field bean, except such as is to be at
tributed to cultivation and good soil.
The kidney bean is not a native of Eng
land. This. we are assured, was first IN
troduced into the country from the
Netherlands in 1509-another importa-
ton, therefore, in all probability due to
Henry's horticultural enthusiasm at the
time when he was doting young spouse.
It is curious fact that the early 1ntrAu
duction of the scarfet-runV
have met with no little prejdd
sition from an idea that the COLD
flowers was due TO blood. .-Ldn
Globe.
sHow far is it to Butleg fl keep
straight on?" .Wa1I, If you're goin' to
keep straight on, it's about twenty
thousand miles, but If you turn round
t'other way it's about half mile z
Lady -"Why did you leave your last
placer" Servant Well, yer see, mum,
I had to pay for aHmy breakages and as
they came to. more than my wages, yer
see. mum, it ssasSa kind of impOgissioli
that couldn't stand.
Roman gossip sasss that the ref5G
Queen Margherita to the bal lpx
Bcrdighiera had is orig
domestic difficulties sha
to the fact that the p1
more, than one respect