In the Garden.
It will soon be time to take up some celery, after the first frosts have sweetened it. And parsnips too ; these lack flavour until the winter has touched them. Meanwhile a glut of cauliflower is almost convert- ing us into vegetarians so that we may avoid waste and the chagrin of seeing magnificent heads blowing out like atom-bomb explosions. Hard work is toward now, clearing out the overgrowth which in these last autumn days accelerates in wantonness : bolting lettuce, carrot-tops (for the roots are still in the ground, waiting to be lifted and stored with sand in tea-boxes). The second crop of Lloyd George raspberries is lavish this year, and the flavour, like that of all late fruits, is of vintage quality. I was fortunate enough to secure a couple of sacks of hen-house sweepings from a chicken farm this summer, and The rasp- berry canes responded accordingly. They also appreciate being set in ground which carries land-drains that disperse the superfluous fluid from the septic tank. A small clump of bamboo also helps to absorb this moisture, and the fresh shoots for this add to the originality of our salads. I am setting winter lettuce in cold frames, where they will lie dor- mant and drab over Christmas, but will quickly begin to show heart early in February. But these hardened and frost-proof kinds always lack the crispness which makes a Webb's Wonderful so enjoyable (if served without being sodden, and if it be dressed with a touch of garlic round the bowl, and a wine vinegar or lemon juice is used in place of the dilute fluoric acid sold commercially as a table commodity).
RICHARD CHURCH
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