414. Horticulture is carefully practised in Switzerland; vineyards are formed as far north as Lausanne; and the apple, pear, plum, cherry, and walnut are common on every farm; the first three are in every cottage-garden. The filbert, gooseberry, currant, raspberry, and strawberry are natives; but only the filbert, raspberry, and strawberry are common in the woods and copses. In the sheltered valleys of this country, the apple and the pear are most prolific. Stewed pears is a common dish among the cottagers in autumn; the fruit is also dried, and, in winter, forms an excellent soup ingredient. The cabbage, the potato, and white beet, grown for the leaves as spinach and their footstalks as chard, and the kidney-bean for haricots and soups, are the popular vegetables. Particular attention is paid to bees, which are, kept in neat rustic sheds (fig. 124.), or have their hives carefully thatched with bark or moss.
