A few words about fruit, garden, and other articles... Liverpool 1863 MASTER NEGATIVE # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DIVISION BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED - EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD OLUC an #36685970 NO HOLDINGS IN ZCU - 1 OTHER HOLDING Record 1 of 1 OCLC: 36685970 Rec Stat: Entered : 19970407 Replaced : Type : a ELvl : K Srce : d BLvl: m Form: a Conf: 0 Cont: GPub: Desc: a Ills: Fest : 0 1 040 PRl TO PRl ^ 2 007 h d a ▼e f Tf a 3 007 h Tb d ▼d a ▼e f vf a 4 007 h vb d vd a ▼e f ▼f a— 5 090 ▼b 6 049 ZCUA ^ 7 245 02 A few words about fruit, n 19970407 Audn: Biog: Fict: 0 DtSt : s ▼g b a ▼g b ▼h a ▼g b a Used: Ctrl: MRec: Indx: Dates : 19970407 Lang : eng Ctry : enk 0 1863, c a b ■ ^3 P P P and food [microform] : ^b in a letter to Joseph Mayer ...•»■ 8 260 Liverpool : ^b Printed at the "Daily Post" Printing Works, ^c 1863. ^ _ 9 300 19 p. ; ▼c 21 cm. ^ ^ 10 533 Microfilm. ▼b New York; N.Y. : vc Columbia University Libraries, ▼d to be filmed in 1997. ^e 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. RES'i HiU I lUNb ON USE: RepmducfbnsmaynotbBmadBimaApefm^^ TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: 3S/99/^ REDUCTION RATIO: y/-/ ilAGE PLACEMENT IB IIB DATE FILMED: ^juj^l TRACKING # : INITIALS: T//^ FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES, BETHLEHEM, PA I A FEW WOEDS * x ABOUT • y FRUIT, GARDEN, AKD OTHKR ABTICLS8 0» PRODUCE AND FOOD. iN A LETTER TO JOSEPH MAYEEi Esq., F.S.A., F.B.S.N.A., XTC, XTG« LIVERPOOL : FBIN1XD AX THX "DAILY POST* FKOmKO VOBKS, 18, CABLE 1863. A PEW WOBDS ▲BOUT FRUIT, GARDEN, Am OIBKB ABTZOUH OT PRODUCE AND FOOD. IN A LETTER JOSEPH MAYER, Esq., F. S. A., F. R 8. N. A., LIVERPOOL : PKIXHEO AX TflK "DAILY POST" PRINTING WOAKS. 18, CABLE STBEET. 1863. A FEW WOBDS ABOUT FBUIT, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF PRODUCE AND FOOD- \_In a Letter to Joseph Mayer^ F.S.A., ^c.] My Dear Mr. Mayer, As I iiud| by two able and very interesting letters addressed to you, that you take great interest in the propagation and growth of British fruit trees, and that your correspondents jtistly denounce the strangely apathetic feeling exhibited by so many people relative to the cultivalion of the apple, pear, ^plum, and other trees, I wish to call your attention to the information contained in the following pages, written by me at the request of Michael James Whitty, Esq., and inserted by him in the Liverpool Journal of May 21st and June 31st, 1862. By his permission, I now address these papers to you, in the belief that, if printed and published, together with the other letters reierred to, many people will learn that of which they are at present uninformed. I think I can make out that if it were not for the foreign fruit grower, various produc- tions of the garden would prove des JruUa difendua to many of us. It has often occurred to me that the absence of the Mul- l>en7 ^ this locality is a remarkable instance of horti- 4 cultural neglect. I believe it is rarely found in the gardens about Liverpool. It may be so inferred as it is most rare to see thisdelicions and luscious looking little fruit, either exposed for sale or upon the dessert table. I have seen a good deal of fruit of all sorts, but I cannot recollect haying seen any mulberries in Liverpool but once or twice during many years. That the mulberry will thrive hereabout— and a right hand- some tree is he — is a £sict, from the existence, I believe, of a thriving specimen in the Rector's garden at Bebington, which is retj productive, if I am rightly in&rmed. I have asked many in Liverpool if they have ever tasted a mulberry, and the negative has invariably been the response. Now, why should it not be at any rate tried ? In some parts of England, the mulberry is found in great profusion • and in two places I know, that it so abounds is occasioned by curious causes. At and about Southampton there are many mulberry trees, and this is attributable to the , fact that in the time of the pleasant lady Queen Elizabeth, that gallant and courtly freebooter, Sir Waiter Raleigh, endeavoured to establish the breed and use of the silkAvorm in that vicinity, and imported fiom tlie South cf France and Italy a quantity of mulberry trees. The project not succeed- ing, the trees were distributed about the neighbourhood, and the worms — ^went to the worms In South Lambeth, Surrey, tiiero ia scarcely a garden of any pretence that does not contain a mulberry tree. In my fatiier's orchaid we had two fine trees,, and under one, the most prolific — ^which in the autumn looked beautiful in the sunlight with its ruby berries amid the sap-green leaves — we used to stretch large sheeta to catch the fruit as it fell, for so delicate is it that it ^1 scarcely bear handling, and should be eaten from the tree if it is to be ct»nsumed in complete perfection. Many of our aequaintances in the neighbourhood had fine Iroes. And how came it that they should be there so abundant ? It was in this wise. In South LambeUi, on the left hand side ot the road on the way to Stockwell, stands the Manor House (at least did when 1 was last there, and may still, if some jerry builders have not laid profane hands on the property, and run up all sorts of habitations on its site) — in which, in the time of that excellent monarch, James the First, dwelt tiie Dutchman, John Tradescant, who had travelled the world over for the purpose of collecting seeds^ plants, coins, and rarities of every sort — (you will read this with interest I know my dear Mr. Mayer). In this Manor House he gathered his miscellaneous gleanings together, and was there visited by tiie highest persons in the realm, and all the learned men of his age; and herein also dwelt Elias Ashmole,who first lodged with Tradescant and afterwards became possessed of the Manor House, with the Museumj which Tradescant bequeathed to him in 1659, and which Museum afterwards was given by Ashmole to the University c f Oxford, in 1667, and is called after his name, i^fter him, in this Manor House, dwelt Alexander Pope, the poet, who, while dwelling there, received as a present from Holland, a lot of mulberry trees, but in such numbers that after planting several in his own garden, he gave orders to his gardener to distribute the rest among his friends — if he had any— and neighboms. I have to thank Pope for the pleasure of reading his poetry, and lor eating for many a year his mulLenies. 1 rather venerate the memory of Alexander Pope. Now the inedlar is not much known hereabout. It is a very wholesome and delicious fruit when eaten in perfection. But those who grow it, in many cases, do not know what to do with it. Take the following as an instance : — I once saw a woman with a basketful of very fine medlars, in one of our markets, and was astonished to find that she was selling them at twopence per dozen ! I bought a quantity— and as I was taking my prize away, I heard the woman say something to a 6 byestancler in reply to a question put about them, that convinced me she did not know the worth of them, either in money or in gastronomical estimation. I therefore asked her what they were and how they w^e to be used^ as if that thought had suddenly cccnrred to me to be necessary. The woman's reply was she did not know- — ^* they caw'd 'em medeleys, but they were wearisome things, and they gave 'era to pigs, who seemed to like them better therottener they toereJ^ I should rather think they did, and it showed that if the woman had no taste, her pigs possessed it. She said that they had tried them aw ways— they had biled 'em, and stewed 'em, and prezarved 'em/' and done everything that could be thought of to make them palatable, but without; succefls~- *'and so they gave 'em to pigs.'' My friend would scarcely believe me when I told her to eat a few when they were rotten, and take the rest to some of the leading fruiterers, and aek fifteen pence*per dozen for the fruit. She very soon found that her *^ ignorance had not been bliss," for the very next time I saw her I leamt»that she had sokl all her crop, from ninepence to fifteen pence per dozen I In Kent and Sussex apricots are grown on standard trees to such an extent, that in one place the r^ts are paid by the sale of the fruit, and it is called Apricot town." I am sure, my dear sir, that the public is greatly indebted to you for the spirit you evince in teaching people to improve their gardens and property by extensively planting fruit trees, and if you can induce landholders to orchardise, the public will be generally benefited. There is many a bit o ground about a farm that now lies waste, that would become profitable by being tree planted, and I am sure everybody will agree with me, that in two seasons of the year the frnit trees are beautiful objects — first when in full bloom, and secondly when in full bearing. See a Kent orchard ot chemes^ for instance — or what can be more lovely than an apple 7 tiee in luxuriant bloom ? while a peax- tree loaded with blossom 18 a frur sight indeed. I remain, my dear Mr. Mayer, Your most obedient Servant, The Authob of the following Pages. p.S*— Are you aware of the origin of the name of " Green Gage?" if not, it is as follows The Gage Family, in the last century obtained from the monks of Chartreuse, in Paris, a collection of fruit trees. Amongst others was one named " La Heine Claude but this apple^tion of the plran having been rubbed off, Lord Gage's gardener was at a loss to know what it was. When the tree bore fruit he was surprised to find that its green state did not change as other plums do, and when it had arrived at peifection, and found it so delicious, he thought he could not do better than give it the name of his noble employer, and thus ^4he Green Gage^' became "a household word" amongst us. " Free trade ! free trade, indeed T cried out the &rm^ « we shall all be ruined. It is as plain as a pikel in a haycock Com will nat be worih growing, and grazing wiU go out of use." " Free trade !" cried the market gaideaer, « What! let foreign-grown fruit and vegetables be brought into this country without duty ? Why, it's murder ! How can we compete with people who pay hardly anything for their land, and live upon black bread and thin broth, and frogs r Such was the rubbish utterred by these producers, and such were the opinions of scores of other tradeam^ and dealers, a few years ago. But how stands the matter ? In respect to the market gardener, bow feres he 1 We know how the farmer has been benefited. Farming never was more prosperous than at present ; not spasmodically so, as it was some fifty years ago, when wbeat was sold at a pound sterling a measure, and three good hams would scarcely be parted with for thirty of old King George the Third's 8 i^ade-ace guineas. When has the market gardener been more prosperous than now ? The fact is that these Bucolics are all of a grumbling race. They want high prices and heavy crops, which they never had yet, and, thank God, never will have. Now, just let us see what free trade has done for ,iis as relating to fruits and vegetables, and how we should be situated were it not for its wise enactments. Could the English market gardener a month ago (last April) have enabled us to put on our tables an excellent dish of green peas, costing us not more than a shilling ? In the most &vonred situations, the English pea is now only in flower, and in some places scarcely so far advanced. Yet we could have an excellent dish of green peas to eat with our tender Iamb or young ducks a month ago, — ^anka to free trade, which enabled the market gardeners in the neighbourhood of Lisbon and Oporto to supply us with any quantity. We can remember that, at one of the leading London companies' spring dinners, it was always the custom to put green peaa on table, cost what they would, and as much as a guinea a quart has been paid, so that the worthy " Master and Wardens and Livery" should not be disappointed in their borme Jxmdie; and we well recollect a Yankee telling us that once, dining at the King's Arms, on Ludgate-hill, during a Metropolitan sojourn in May, he ordered a dish of peas, finding it named in the carte. To his disgust he found the contents of the dish might liave been taken up by a gravy spoon, and consequently ordered a seeond and a third supply. On ordering a fourth, the waiter placing his thumbs on the table, and leaning tow^ards his guest in a mysterious sort of way, whispered that the peas were " five shillings the dish." Our Mend's astonishment at such a price was expressed in an exclamation in which a certain place was mentioned where green peas do not grow. 9 Go through our markets, look on the stalls where fruit and vegetables are ctiqilayed, and, in taking stock, enquire which of the articles at this time of the year (or rather a month ago the question would have been more to the pur- pose) is grown by the British market gardener? Whrace are those beautifully clear-skinned new potatoes — so clean and trim-looking, that Mrs. Smith, although the most ia^tidious of ladies, may take enough home for dumer in her reticule, without soiling the amber silken lining ? The Lisbon and Oporto steamers bring us these potatoes, ^wn in the vicinities of those cities, by, we believe, English gardeners settled there. Malta also sends us new potatoes, superior to our own, by the way, because they are ripe and ours are not at this season, the latter being only provocatives to the disorderment of the system, in cholera of a mild form, which always prevails when new potatoes are eaten by tiie lieges in abundance. That fine asparagus? It is from the south of France. Those fine cauliflowers; where do they come firom? Ei^lish grown, certainly, if the SeUly Isles can be called English. Those lettuces, in their neat baskets, and of such elegant form and lovely colotur, where do they grow ? In France ; and there is some portion of the rich loamy soil of Gaul upon them still, the sight of which might 3nake an eni&usiastic Gallic exile sing the soena from Tancredi," " Oh! Patria,". and kiss the brown earth, as that gentleman does when he lands from the duun boat on to the dirty stage. And those onions, with their skins of warm brown, as an artist would say ? Oporto, Lisbon, and the south of Spain send us those delightful but presence-telling esculents. The English onion is only a little bit of a bulb (just now the size of a thermometer glass), and is not fit for culinary purposes, while the English onion of last yearns growth is like a lady with a large fomily — running to seed. And that garlic which hangs in such mighty strings? France 10 —France, my dear madam, and Spain supply us with Ikat. And those cabbages-are we indebted to the enterprisincr English gardener for them ? No ; those are sent to us from Ireland, and in such profusion that, last year, upwards of one hundred and fifty crates arrived in Liverpool in one week, containing each on an average one hundred dozen ccMagea. Now multiply these two quantities, oh 1 son of Cocker, and see what an astounding number there will be consumed. The EngUsh grower was behind-hand, and prolific Irehwid sup- pHed the want. And for finiit-tbose lovely cherries, hloommg like a pretty woman's lips— packed in rows in neat little boxes— can the English gardener provide us with anything like them at this time of year, unless from a hot waUl The Kent trees have only just cast ofT their snowy robes ; and the wind and rain are only now blowing and washing off ihQ dried-up petal and calyx from the baby cherry, leaving it to swell and gi-ow, and turn from brilhant green to ruby colour. From France and from Portugal come these beautiful fruits, to adorn our dessert tables and delight our palates ; and in truth they do so, for they are remark- able for their firmness of flesh and fineness of flavour. Then for pine apples— pine apples so cheap that they can be sold at a penny a sKce in the open thoroughfare. Africa contri- butes many, the fruit being brought by tiie steamers from Fernando Po, Sierra Leone, &c. ; but the finest pines are brought from Nassau and Bermuda. The African pine is only of inferior quaUty. Then we have apples from America (ah ! how wiU the apples grow there this year ?)— from France, from Spain and Portugal, and tiie isles of Jersey and Guernsey; and there is the noblest, most whole- some fruit of an, the gorgeous Orange, the tree of which " buds and blossoms and bears fruit aU at once, and loads the sleepy breeze with its overwhehning perfume ;— the orange, that, like a young man, leaves home green, and only ripens 11 and becomes useful as he grows older. Portugal, Spain, Africa, Malta, Sicily, Valencia, Malaga, and the Azores send us quantities of these delicious and wholesome fruit, of which any number may be eaten, if fully ripe, with impunity. And so, John Bull, where is the produce of your garden at this time of the year 1 How did you siq>ply, years gone by, the little and big BuUs, before free trade opened the great gates of plenty 1 We can hardly conceive how our £Ebthers, and certainly our fore£skthers, managed to get on without railways, steamships, telegraphs, and free trade. We suppose they did, or we should not have been here mildly to ask the question. If free trade has opened the floodgates of plenty, and many articles of food that were formerly considered as almost unapproachable luxuries have become nearly indis- pensable necessaries, in consec^uence of all commercial restric- tions being swept away; the estabhshment of railways, which gridiron England all over, and are rapidly spreading, net-like, on the Continent, and the introduction of the magnetic tel^raph, through the lines of which Speeds the ck^ intereoone fitmt pole to poUt have not only enabled the home growers of produce of all descriptions to find new and good, and, in fact, unthought- of markets ; but also prices everywhere around us in this country have become equalised by supply and demand being properly adjusted. Formerly, in out-of-the-way places, widely remote from any market town, small fucmeta almost lived upon the produce of their land. Even the very materials of their clothing were grown, shorn, spun, and made up, as it w^, on the spot ; and so completely isolated were these people from the busy world, that they were in quite an Arcadian state of stupidity and greenness, being totally innocent of that inward stirring and longing of ih» 12 miud, or heart, or soul, which is called ambition, and which incites men to progress rather than stand still. Multitudes have been awakened from a state of apathy by the shrill scream of the locomotive whistle, and the clattering tapacjc b{ a long train, which suddenly presented to theii- view a mode of profitably transmitting miles and miles away that particular article of growth or produce wWch in theu- own vicinity was so abundantly .su]^plied, either by the bountiful and fitting nature of the soil for such production, or from other causes, aa to be scarcely saleable. Now the telegraph communicates the fact to the stout dtizens of Z. that the inde&tigable agricolists of A. can cheaply supply some particular article of food, when, on an answer flashing back, the account of supply and demand is balanced by trucks full of A.'s produce being sent to Z.. whereby the seller^s heart rejoiceth at his profit and the consumer's stomach is comforted by fresh food meet for him. The telegraph espedaUy operates in equalising the price of aU sorts of perishable food. For instance, supposing that a telegiaphic despatch arrives in Liverpool intimating that there is in Dublin, or any of the Irish fishing stations, or the Isle of Man, or, in fact, anywhere, a large arrival of fish of any sort, the. inquixy is made how such fish would suit the liverpool maiket if sent there ? Supposing it would be impossible to sell it in Liverpool, messages are transmitted immediately to Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, and other leading inland towns, and even London, for informa- tion respecting the desirability of forwarding the fish to either of these towns, when, on encouragement being given, the fish is shipped to Holyhead or Liverpool, as the case may be, and forwarded thence direct to its inknd destination without any delay arising— «o essential a matter in anything perishable. Thus cheapness in one place and dearness in mother are practically done away with, and we hear no 13 longer of persons going into "elegant retiranent" to such and such an inland town femed for its cheap living and small gentilities, or to such and such a little place by the maigin of the wide ocean, where we can, witlMHit appearing inquisitive, ask, " What are the wild waves saying |" The cheapness of both has departed. The Boilerville station, just outrade Boilerville, has been the indiiect means of raising rents, enliancing the price of bread, meat, and poultry, but bringing down the price oi fish — for fish come up plentifully from Cocklesand-cum- Perriwinkle eveiy morning in gi'eat abundance. In fieict, if you reside at (Joddesand, you must get up veiy early in the morning if you want to obtain either a dish of fish or a plateful of shrimps, for the jetty terminus of the Boiler- ville and (Joekl^nnd fiailway runs out a long way to sea^ and the fishermen of that'^port (increasing littie place) put their creels, and skips, and baskets almost fr'om out of their boats on to the railway tracks, utterly forgetting sometimes, in consequence of the great_ demand for fish at Boilerville and adjacent towns, that in the parish of CockJesand-cum- Perriwinkle fish is as highly esteemed as elaefwhere. The railway has stripped from inland towns and seaboard villages all pretensions to being cheap, quiet, meek, and lowly. Tour shrimps will cost you qiute as much as you could purchase them for in the fish market of Boilerville— that queer littie ' ahed inclosed by iron gates — and it has lately been a much-talked of fact, that Madame Janaway, the lady of the manor of Cocklesand, being about to enter- tain some distinguished visitors, was obliged to send all the way to Boilerville for a turbot that had passed her mansion soon after tide-time in the usual morning luggage train. The idea of sending to an iidand town from a seaboard fishing place, for a dish of fresh fish is certainly an anomaly and a seeming absurdity ; but Gills, the Boilerville .fish' 14 monger, has several good customers in Cocklesand— and that is a &ct. In the matter of butchers' meat we are not dependent on our English pastures for our supply. We receive vast quantities of fine beef from Hamburg, by way of HvJl During the past few years, every one must have noticed frequently driven through our streets some fine bullocks, witii remarkably long horns, and having very beautiful eyes. Indeed the expression in the eyes of some of these animals is positively loveable and amiable* These animi^ are brought from Portugal and Spain, by the swift steamers They find here a good market, in spite of the risks and expenses of a sea voyage, and the consequent loss of the cattle by rough weather. From Ireland and Scotland we get our principal supplies of mutton and lambs. By the Irish boats very large numbers of sheep and lambs are imported into England. Wales also provides a large quota of food . and "mountain peckers," as the Cockneys called Welsh mutton, is, in its season, in high request A few years ago, Welsh mutton could be bought for twopence per lb. xmder the price of English or Scotch mutton, but now the price is the same as that of any other sort. Fully one-third of the mutton consumed in this part of the kingdom is brought from Scotland. There are some few beasts brought from ^e Me of Man, From Cheshire and Shropshire and Staffordshire we have a large supply of cattle. From CSheshire we have vast numbers of calves. From Yorkshire we have our " milch" cows. As for pigs, Cheshire and Wales provide us with great numbers; but it is from Ireland the chirf supply is drawn. Upwards of 100,000 pigs a-year are imported into, or rath(3r pass through Liverpool and, strange to say, many pigs are bought in liverpool to be te-shipped to Ireland. Vast quantities ofbacon are sometimes sent to Ireland, so that the Emerald Isle piggy goes out on 15 his travels alive and returns home dead, and not unfre- quently revisits England in his baoonian state. In Xiove* lane. Great Howard-street, the London and North-Westem .Railway Company have made excellent accommodation for ilie pordne tribe, and ^ere vast numbers of pigs daily change hands, and are either driven thence into town for home consumption, or shipped off to Birmingham, Man* chester> and elsewhere. Fat pigs are also brought fixHn Cheshire, and " suckers" from the neighbouring county, as also fircHn Walea, ''Cumberland hams and bacon" are cut up in a peculiar style in Liverpool, and sent by rafl and steamer in very large quantities to Cmnberland, there to be cured and smoked according to the custom of the country." The Cumberland hams are cut long. Irish hams are trimmed up for the Irish market, and are cut short round the butt end. The supply of game in Liverpool is procured from all parts : great quantities are brought from Ireland and Scotland. We can put upon our tables ptarmigan from Iceland and Norway. From the Mediterranean- we have supplies of quails ; from Canada we receive a peculiar sort of small-sized goosey which is said to be in flavour and juiciness equal to the celebrated canvas-back duck of the dis-United States. In their several seasons we receive large supplies of wild ducks, widgeons^ teal, and other wild fowl from Holland, where these birds abound. We get them also from Ireland in considerable quantities. The most singular importation of game into liverpool is that of the prairie bird, brought from the Far West. It is certainly a proof of considerable enterprise to import these delicioua birds, whidi am sold at a much less rate than our own grouse, especially when we consider that from Leather Stockings, whether he shoots them, traps UbiNsx^ or puts salt on tiieir tails, to the poulterer" in his apron of white who prepares them for Cookey— - 16 yixamg like the ghost of a kitchen fire — all must make a profit In great perfection certainly they are brought to this country, in spite of the distance of hundreds of miles that they have to be conveyed over land, and their sea Toyage across ibe Atlimtic ; and these delightful birds) placed sanoMug upon the table of our friend and neighbour' Dives, must induce him to declare that steam as a motive power is a x&ry excellent and mueh-to-be-lauded invention or application. It is somewhat interesting to trace out the localities wfaeooe various descriptiGns of food are brought. America supplies us with butter, cheese, hams, and bacon ; from France and Holland we have great quantities of butter, and ttom iAiB latter country abundance of cheese. The Gk>uda dieeses, many of them, are really delicious, and so also are some of the £daai ; but the Dutch cheeses are too often veiy saH, and it is somewhat remarkable that they have at times " a most ancient and fish-like smtill." This arises from the cows pasturing where the eels have migrated from the canals, whidi they do at certain seasons in myriads. Their slime gives a taint to the cheese and butter, as the peaty taste is imparted to Irish batter made on moorland and bogland farms. Eggs are brought from Holland and France in immense numbers, as is also lard, which, by the way, is largely imported, and in great perfection, from America. Vegetables and fruit we find t oming from various dis- tances. If we had to depend upon the frwt-growers and fiurmers in our own vi