In October _Cod_ comes in good season, also _Haddocks_, _Brill_, _Tench_, and every sort of shell fish.
In November most sorts of fish are to be got, but all are dear. _Oysters_ are excellent in this month.
_Fresh Herrings_ from November to January.
_Yarmouth Mackerel_ from May till August.
_Artichokes_ are in season from July to October.
_Jerusalem Artichokes_ from September till June.
_Asparagus_, forced, may be obtained in January; the natural growth, it comes in about the middle of April, and continues through May, June, and July.
_French Beans_, forced, may be obtained in February, of the natural growth, the beginning of July; and they continue in succession through August.
_Cabbage_ of most sorts in May, June, July, and August.
_Cucumbers_ may be forced as early as March; of their natural growth they come in July, and are plentiful in August and September.
{ 34}_Endive_ comes in in June, and continues through the winter.
_Leeks_ come in in September, and continue till the Spring.
_Lettuce_, both the Coss and the Cabbage, come in about April, and continue to the end of August.
_Parsnips_ come in in October; but they are not good until the frost has touched them.
_Peas_, the earliest forced, come in about the beginning of May; of their natural growth, about the beginning of June, and continue till the end of August.
_Potatoes_, forced, in the beginning of March; and the earliest of natural growth in May.
_Radishes_, about the beginning of March.
_Small Salad_, in May and June; but may be had all the year.
_Salsify_ and _Scorzonera_, in July and August.
_Sea Kale_ may be found as early as December or January, but of the natural growth it comes in in April and May.
_Eschalots_, for keeping, in August and three following months.
_Spring Spinach_, in March, April, and three following months.
_Winter Spinach_ from October through the winter.
_Turnips_, of the garden, in May; but the field Turnips, which are best, in October.
THE benefit of a good kitchen is well known to every housekeeper, but it is not every mistress that is aware of the importance of having a good cook. I have seen kitchens which, though fitted up with every convenience, and certainly at considerable expense, yet failed to send forth good dinners, merely because the lady of the house was not happy in her choice of a cook. I do not in the least admire gourmands, or gourmandism; and yet I would be more particular in selecting the servant who is to perform the business of preparing the food of the family, than I should deem it necessary to be in selecting any of the other servants. In large establishments there is a greater quantity of cookery to be performed, and, consequently, a greater quantity of waste is likely to be caused by unskilful cooks, than there can be in small families; but even in the latter considerable waste may be the consequence of saving a few pounds a year in the wages of a cook. An experienced cook knows the value of the articles submitted to her care; and she knows how to turn many things to account which a person unacquainted with cooking would throw away. A good cook knows how to convert the remains of one dinner into various dishes to form the greater part of another dinner; and she will, also, be more capable than the other of forwarding her mistress's charitable intentions; for her capability in cooking will enable her to take advantage of everything which can be spared from the consumption of the family, to be converted into nourishing food for the poor, for those of her own class who have not the comfort of a home such as she herself enjoys. The cook who knows how to preserve the pot-liquor of fresh meat to make soup, will, whenever she boils mutton, fowls, or rabbits, &c., &c., carefully scum it, and, by adding peas, other vegetables, or crusts of bread, and proper seasonings, make some tolerable soup for poor { 36}people, out of materials which would otherwise be thrown away.