November 14th, 1823 –
Just
as he did when he first arrived in NYC, Douglas is spending a day at
the vegetable market. This is his horticultural background in the
kitchen gardens at Scone showing
through!
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In the morning went to the vegetable market. Celery is fine, just like such as is to be seen in England, but raised at much less expense. Broccoli is inferior to European: I am told by many, cauliflower nor broccoli is not so good as in Britain. Carrots and beet are very fine; they do not seem to possess many varieties. Turnips are very small and not of first quality. Potato is the worst vegetable in the market. In Canada I tasted some very excellent onions, here they are fine; leeks also good.
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In the morning went to the vegetable market. Celery is fine, just like such as is to be seen in England, but raised at much less expense. Broccoli is inferior to European: I am told by many, cauliflower nor broccoli is not so good as in Britain. Carrots and beet are very fine; they do not seem to possess many varieties. Turnips are very small and not of first quality. Potato is the worst vegetable in the market. In Canada I tasted some very excellent onions, here they are fine; leeks also good.
I cannot make any contrast between this and Covent
Garden [the principal fruit & vegetable market in London]
as I never had many opportunities of seeing it, and I question much
if those more capable of judging would have any reluctance in
pronouncing equal in proportion to the town to Covent
Garden.
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What a convoluted sentence; I think he means that overall the quality of produce in NYC is comparable to that in Covent Garden.
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Fruit is bought in abundance; certainly fine indeed, but to speak candidly I think much exaggerated, and asking any person if they are good they invariably say they are not so fine as last year, and I think had I been here then they would not have been so fine as the year before. An unusually waspish comment from Douglas! Reading between the lines I suspect he's a little weary of a tendency to exaggerate the merits of anything American, be it produce or anything else. He has to be publicly polite so as not to offend his hosts but can let his feelings show in his Journal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What a convoluted sentence; I think he means that overall the quality of produce in NYC is comparable to that in Covent Garden.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fruit is bought in abundance; certainly fine indeed, but to speak candidly I think much exaggerated, and asking any person if they are good they invariably say they are not so fine as last year, and I think had I been here then they would not have been so fine as the year before. An unusually waspish comment from Douglas! Reading between the lines I suspect he's a little weary of a tendency to exaggerate the merits of anything American, be it produce or anything else. He has to be publicly polite so as not to offend his hosts but can let his feelings show in his Journal.
Nuts from Europe, and indigenous to America, are
in quantity, with pineapples and coconuts from West Indies. I am a
little disappointed as to price of vegetable, by no means so cheap as
I was led to believe. Packing in the after part of the day.
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