122. On the supposition that only a part of the vegetables consumed by the family can be grown in the back garden, the next point is to determine those which it is advisable to grow. This depends on various considerations; such as those kinds in which the occupier is most curious in his taste; those which the soil and aspect are best calculated for producing; those which are dearest in the given locality, etc.: but the most general and influential consideration is, the keeping or non-keeping properties of culinary vegetables, after being gathered. All vegetables exposed for sale in markets or shops must necessarily have been gathered some time, and, consequently, deprived of their natural succulency, or even injured by fermentation; and this will be the case, more or less, according to the nature of the vegetable, and the mode in which it is brought to market by the grower, and kept by the seller. For example, lettuces, peas, and spinach are brought to market in cart-loads, in large baskets, or in sacks; and, if the distance is great, or the time between gathering and consumption is more than a day, or, at most, two days, fermentation will have taken place.

Cabbages and turnips are also brought to market in cart-loads; but though, when in a young state, with all their leaves about them, these vegetables ferment in the course of two or three days, yet, when they are full-grown and firm, they may, when deprived of their outer leaves, be kept in heaps for a week or more without undergoing fermentation. The vegetables which are most injured by keeping are such as are eaten raw; and hence it is always desirable, if possible, for every man to grow his own salading, such as lettuce, endive, cress, mustard, radishes, young onions, etc, in order that they may be brought to table fresh, and newly gathered. These ought, therefore, to be grown, if possible, in even the smallest back garden of a suburban residence. The excellence of celery also depends much upon its being eaten crisp and fresh from the ground; and, therefore, if room can be found, this also ought to be grown in small gardens. Next to salading, it has been found from experience that peas are most injured by being kept after they are gathered, and, therefore, they are the second class of articles which should be grown in every suburban kitchen-garden if possible.

Tender leaves, such as those of spinach and spring cabbages, are next liable to injury from the same causes; and, therefore, they ought also to be grown, if room can be found. A small bed can scarcely be more profitably employed than under winter spinach, which (the Flanders variety being chosen), in a rich loamy soil, not wet below, and in a sheltered situation, will continue growing almost all the winter, and afford occasional gatherings at that season, and an abundant supply for the table from April till August, care being taken to pick out the flower stems as soon as they begin to appear, and to water when the ground is dry.

123. Those vegetables which it is convenient to have always at hand, in case of an emergency, and which a cook may gather for herself, ought also to be planted. Thus, parsley, mint, fennel, thyme, and chives, ought to be in every suburban garden-plot, however small, as supplying garnishings and seasoning, which are constantly wanted; but no one would think of growing horseradish in a fourth-rate suburban garden where a gardener was not kept; because, however frequently it might be used, it requires considerable labour to dig it up; and, as it keeps perfectly well, it may be procured from the greengrocer's at any time, and kept till wanted in a cellar, or in the garden, covered with soil. Where there is room, an asparagus bed, if properly formed at first by deep trenching, thorough drainage, and an abundant supply of manure, is a very convenient luxury; since the heads are easily gathered when wanted, require little aid from cookery, and are generally considered a delicacy. Asparagus beds, to those who prefer the shoots green, and, consequently, do not cut them till they are two or three inches above the ground, do not require to be earthed-up every winter, and of course are less expensive in the management than those where the asparagus is eaten blanched, as this effect can only be produced by heaping up earth on the beds.

A bed of sea-kale, though it will sooner afford a supply for the table than a bed of asparagus, yet requires more attention from the gardener, and fails sooner, and, therefore, is not so well adapted for a suburban garden where the saving of labour is an object. Tart rhubarb, if planted in a soil deeply trenched, and well manured, occasions less trouble than any other perennial vegetable; and, if watered in dry weather, it will continue producing leaves the whole summer. In winter, the ground on which it stands ought to he well soaked with liquid manure. For pies and puddings, rhubarb stalks are preferred by many to either gooseberries or apples; and they are so easily gathered, so wholesome, and so well adapted for children, that no suburban kitchen-garden ought to be without its rhubarb bed.