Have touched lightly many topics, which, were not the limits narrow, might have been advantageously treated at length.

Culinary taste and physiological knowledge wanted for the progress of cookery.

The formation of elementary schools of cookery, and the encouragement they have received from the public, augur well for improvement. That they should teach the principles of cookery, that is, of applying heat to food, as well as the practical work of the kitchen, is a matter of the first importance. No doubt the standard of attainment is low in both subjects, and a certain commonplace uniformity in product will pervade the country as the result. Once make cookery a distinct business to which the young may be trained, which it never yet has been, and the chance of now and then producing a first-rate cook, who may advance the art, is within reach. Formerly the practice of cookery was far too often merely a resource for wage - getting among ignorant women, who took to it at hazard, and acquired such traditions as pertained to the kitchen they happened to enter. Thanks to some systematic teaching, which of late has widely extended, there are occasionally some fairly good practical cooks to be met with, but they are very rare, and very few indeed understand the principles on which the art of cookery is based. Until it is taught as a science as well as an art, and there should be no difficulty in doing so, since a very little knowledge of certain chemical and physical laws is requisite to furnish the rationale of the changes in food through the application of heat, the cook will be ignorant of all except that which she has been taught by rule to do, and incapable of improving her practice by applying heat in new ways or acquiring new results by intelligent experiments. Further, until the subject of cooking, with its practice, is recognized in this country as a profession which a man with some education and natural taste can exercise, we must be content to rank below other countries in rearing artists of the first order.

Schools of cookery and their importance.

At the present day it appears desirable, before all things, to secure the highest quality in all produce of the land whether animal or vegetable, the standard of attainment leaving much to be desired in regard to the products of the latter kingdom. Great Britain has long held the first place as to quality for her beef and mutton; in no other country in Europe is it possible to obtain these meats so tender, juicy, and well-developed. The saddle, the haunch, the sirloin, and the round, so admirable on occasions, are only in danger of suffering here, like intimate friends, from a too great familiarity with their charms. But even our standard of quality in meat has been gradually lowered, from the closer struggle, year by year, to produce a fat animal in a shorter space of time than formerly; a result which is accomplished by commencing to feed almost exclusively on oilcake at a very early period of life. The result of this process is, that size and weight are attained by a deposit of fat, rather than by the construction of muscular fibre, which alone forms the staple of matured and wholesome flesh. Not only are there in these animals large and unnecessary deposits of fat in the cavities, chest, and abdomen of the body, but there is also a proportion of fat seen to be intermixed with the muscular fibres when the meat is cut, making what ought to be lean meat a compound of fat and lean which are inseparable. This is the result of artificial or over-fattening, which does not occur in the flesh of an animal which has passed an active and healthy life in the forest or on the downs. The necessary consequence, of course, is that the characteristic flavour and qualities of fully developed beef and mutton are greatly wanting in modern meat.

Secure high - class produce, by careful breeding.

Far from satisfactory also is the supply of vegetable and dairy produce to our great city, particularly of the former. It must be confessed that our market at Covent Garden, in relation to capabilities for effective distribution of fresh vegetables, etc., would disgrace a town one-fifth of the size of London. Few of its inhabitants can obtain really fresh green food, and those who succeed pay a heavy price. But their success is only partial, as those few who have a country garden of their own, and are supplied by it, well know. And, comparatively speaking, none but those who are so happily circumstanced, realize the exceeding luxury of possessing well-grown vegetables brought directly from the garden to the table. Again, I think I am right in saying that a new-laid egg is a luxury which it is not easy in London to ensure by purchase. Whoever would absolutely secure the luxury must keep fowls, and with due care may obtain it, not otherwise.

Vegetable produce.

The great staple of our bread, commonly called "baker's bread," is unpalatable and indigestible; and I suppose no thoughtful or prudent consumer would, unless compelled, eat it habitually - used as it nevertheless is by the great majority of the inhabitants of this great city - any more than he would select a steak from the coarse beef whose proper destination is the stock-pot. Let any one compare the facilities which exist in most foreign towns for obtaining the various important articles of diet just named, with the modes of supply afforded in London, and the inferiority of the latter will be so manifest as to become matter of humiliation to an Englishman. I do not raise any question of comparison between our own markets and the Halles Centrales of Paris, covering as they do nearly five acres of closely utilized space, with enormous vaults beneath, in direct communication by tram - road with the railways; nor of the well-stocked Marche St. Honore, and others of less note. An early morning survey of the fish, flesh, dairy produce, vegetables, fruit, and flowers, which the Halles Centrales display, together with the scarcely less remarkable exhibition of Parisian and provincial life brought together there.