Letter: Cowcumbers of 1707

Sir: The real salad days (Letters, 16 March) were c1707, when Henry Wise, who was laying out the kitchen garden at Blenheim, billed the Duke of Marlborough for seeds of: cresses, lop lettuce, cos lettuce, cabbage lettuce, Silesia lettuce, brown Dutch lettuce, corn salad, rocket, succory, hartshorn (swine's cress), Good King Henry, scorzonera, purslane, radish (a peck), black Spanish radish, celery and early cowcumber (sic).

Yours faithfully,

JULIET AYKROYD

London, SE1

16 March