The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-02-28

Watermelons are strictly hot house
fruit, but are imported to some extent
from America. In fact, all the best fruit
eaten in England is raised in hot houses.
the art being carried to the utmost per
lection. Peaches and plums are known
as wall fruit" the trees being trained
against wall as though they were vines.
Inc Englishman builds high brick wall
around his premises, and fortifies it with
broken bottles, or sharpened nails, stuck
thickly along the top. His idea of com
fort includes seclusion from the outside
world. Against this wall he nails his
trees, and tends the fruit with Jealous
care. A story is told of an American sea
captain, who, at little dinner, helped
himself to three peaches from a plate con-
tang half dozea--one for each guest
and coolly ate them all. Peaches were
no rarity to him, and he did not dream
that these had cost his host a guinea
apiece Hot house grapes may be had at
all seasons, anda second only to peaches
and pine"Nl''ns (they always call them
pines) in expensiveness.
None of our American peculiarities
horrities the English like our fondness
for ice. OF late years you find it at all
the hotels and large restaurants, but its
use In private houses is exceptional, and
at some of the leading hotels you are ex-
pected to pay extra for ice water. The
English never drink it, "They give you
cents worth of holry-poky, and call it
Neapolitan ice cream" said Philadel-
phian, who could not forgive the short ra-
tons Of his favorite dainty. The guam
titles served are intinitesimal, two tea
spoonfuls in nest of fluted paper, such
as confectioners use for fine candies. be-
ing the regulation dish. Eat a great
saucerful of ice creamr exclaimed an
Engiishwoman to the writer, 81 should
expect to der l CHANGED to mention
my weakness for frozen bananas. Fan
cy!'' was the short but emphatic COM
ment. You never see a whole bunch of
bananas, even in the windows of the
Regent street shops. A ''hand' or two
is the largest display made at once.
II have an infallible method of telling
the Americans at dinner in a restau.
rant" said an Englishman. "Want to
hear it! They always take butter. I'M
less they have been here long and affect
English manners. Now we English
never do Look around and you NAV
count them now."
Their method of serving butter at table
is as pretty as it is economical. You
never see pound print of butter on an
English table. Instead, the butter is
made into all manner of fanciful shapes.
making the portions dealt to each person
as small as they can well be, often look-
ing as though meant for dolls table.
Squirted butter, made by squeezing the
butter in strings through a hole in the
bottom of a stiff piece of paper rolled to
a funnel; "scooped butter" made by
scooping the butter quickly and thinly
with scooper that has been dipped in
warm water; "curled butter" by putting
the butter into cloth, two ends of which
are fastened to hook in the wall. and
the other two tied in knot to pass a
stick through. The cloth is twisted
tightly, so that the butter falls in small
ourlecues through the knot. Besides
these there are any number of pretty
molds sold for shaping thin, small squares
of butter. You do not often see indi.
vidual butter plates; instead, the custom
is to use one small plate for both bread
and butter.
Cream is sold in quaint little Jugs.
holding about half pint, and is deli
cious, although the London LODGING
house keeper regards it with distrust and
says it is ''doctored." The Devonshire
clotted cream is national dish which
there are few who do not like.
The best pickles in the world are. as
everybody knows, made in London, and
are cheap accordingly, as they pay no
duty. Jams are good and plentiful-so
plentiful that one is apt to have too much
of them.
Potatoes, eggs and apples are sold by
weight, which is undoubtedly the fairest
way both to buyer and seller; still it looks
odd to American eyes TO see the placard |
surrounding a hand barrow of apples:
''Sd. a pound"
M d