Telegram-herald., 1891-08-24
VHLRIIHEYCONElRoN
Various Good Things We Enjoy
When Upon Our Tables
NAIERNELOyS, POTATOES lyDOyI0yS
fsstts and Vegetables Which nany
People ssppss~ ia be ADsrssas-
VERY Fee Thtnxs which orsgi-
mated tn this IA saaIs pher&


This is the season for fruits OF all
sorts. and OF al who eat them how
many know where the delicious ap-
petite ticklers originated Perhaps
a. many as mourn for Logan; not one.
A front street melon dealer, when
asked from where watermelons came,
assumed a superior air as of one dis
gusted with the ignorance OF his ques-
tioner, and replied with a naughty
sneer. Prom Georgia, OF course"
The fnquisitor went on his way
answered but NOT satisfied. and looked
the matter up for himsef. He learned
a great many things "a had noC known
before.
The first watermelons came from
tropical Africa, where whole districts
are covered thickiy by them And
when q native wishes TO find ripe
melon, he does not lean over IL. tap IL
with his knuckles and listen anxiously
10 the pink. pank. punk" as the eau
tious purchaser does here. He Simply
siashes the melon IN two with his AK
or sword II it Is ripe he Immediately
buries his face In IL In regulation style;
bnf II ir Il green or one of bitter
variety he calmly whacks another,
and - goes on. The ANCIENT Egyp-
tlans cultivated the watermelon. and
perhaps Antony and Cleopatra iunched
ON 0nr
Muskmeions. however, come from
South America. while tl5 cantelope.
90 frequently confoundei with them
comes from India. All st rts OF melons
were cultivated at very early times
in Africa ard India, but the old Ro-
mans had no use for them until in the
& risti a.
But II you want a patriotic Arneri-
can citizen. call for the pumpkiIs-the
huge county fair pumpkin, the dclic-
ious pie pumpkin. the bright golden
yellow pumpkin with its little round
belly upturned To the sun. as Wash
ington Irving so graphically described
81. Il is a native American, as are also
the squashes and cashaws, both OF
which carry Indian names There We're
some few eadible gourds known TO the
Grueco- Roman world. and one stray
species tries 90 be happy alone In Gui-
nca. but the pumpkin Is fruit that
grows upon American pantry-shelves
distifctively. The Guayas, too, came
originally from Brazil, Mexico and the
West Indies.
Jerusalem artsrhokes never eaw
Jerusalem. They originated in Bra
zii and on no TO Canada, whence they
were taken homc bv (hanpl In in 1908
under the Indian name of ''chi quebi."
m fhr present English name
is n corruption OF the Italian title,
''gira soie,' meaning 'sunflower."
An Irish" potato n not any more
Irish than an Apache Indian Is. They
were first cultivated in Peru and Chilli
by the Incas. and spread as far north
as New Granada, from where the
Spaniards took them to Virginia, In
the sixteenth century. under the Indian
name cf .'openawk." They were
taken from Virginia to England by
Thomas Herriott first, and not by Sir
Walter Raleigh. as Il popularly stated.
The "batata," or sweet potato. so
called. u a native Of America, all OF
fits fifteen species, and on Christopher
Columbus first appearance at court
after his voyage he presented the
Queen with some batata among the
other trophies.
The radlsn first came from Western
Asia. and has been cultivated from
The opening OF history. Horscradish
came from the Desert OF Cuman and
Astrakhan, and got It's name from its
coarseness. Just as coarse comedy on
The stage Is now called "horse-play -
Turnips haAs been popular and cult
waited through temperate Europe and
siberia ever since the Ayrian invasion.
II you know that date. And the stern
browed Roman called beets beta
400 years before Christ, that vege-
table having been garden-grown
around the Caspian and Mediterra.
mean seas at earliest times. II is high
~ possible that some OF the canaille
accused Brutus OF turning as red as
n beet when dying Caesar reproaehed
him with having "ct tu."
Many a mar who has shifted the air
from his kitchen and thought he was
10 have fried oysters for supper. and
then sound the aroma TO be that o
the oyster plant, satisfy. might fee
better n he knew that the aneients
first found IL growing Wild In Greece
Daimatia, italy and Algeria. and that
during the last two hundred years Il
has greatly declined I'm favor as dish
It- name r. nonsensical, coming from
the italian ''sasefrica,' that which
rubs stone"
Onions were probably earlier cul
tivated than any other root. One o
fts species was actually elevated "a
tIvine honors by the ancient Egyptian
on fts merits. but the old Greeks mad,
rots II fun of the Egyptian brrati
before they finally came 70 deyoul
the onion themselves. West Asia an'
Palestine are parents OF this veupf hl
with a breath Ike a Mil Creek sewer
Garlic, which has perfums all IL
own. more precious to q FrenehmaI
than the oiors OF Arabv. the bles
first wasted its sweetness upon tn
desert air q, Nonxai Tartary an'
China. Unfortunately. Ike the opioi
A. has spreed since then
Cabbage first came from Europe
whore It wa raitieeted In many var
scsies before the Arya invasion an
vas certainly eaten wild long befor
that The ancient Greeks munehei
coll siaw, anf fhe early German
ssfomped' II down In their earl
Cerusn kraHf barrels. Tt has he =
boiled In every continental kttehe'
ue = sss~s rom time nnrecorde'
and ssr1 holds fts own
srruxfoet. fhaf precious ingred
snt of ire-cresrn receipts. is ,n Amcri
can contribution. coming prin'srsi
II