German composition

Section 56 Our Cultivated⁠ Native⁠ Plants12

Most⁠3 of the fruits which grow on trees, such as our apples and pears, have⁠4 been greatly⁠5 improved and raised⁠6 above their natural state by grafting and other artificial means.

Of⁠7 cultivated native plants, the chief are celery⁠8, parsley, the cabbage, turnip, carrot, parsnips, and the hop. The onion is⁠9 a native of South France, the lettuce of Greece, the radish of China, and the rhubarb, now⁠10 so largely used in pies and puddings, of Russia. Cress comes from⁠11 Persia, spinach from some⁠12 part of Asia, and the Jerusalem artichoke⁠13 from Brazil.—Hewitt, Physical Geography of England and Wales.

Notes

1 veredelt.

2 einheimisch.

3 The clause ‘Most — trees’ may be briefly rendered by ‘Die meisten Baumfrüchte’.

4 Here follows the adverbial clause ‘by grafting — means’.

5 bedeutend.

6 ‘raised — state’ may be elegantly rendered by the p. p. ‘cultivated’ (veredelt).

7 Say ‘The principal cultivated native plants are’, etc.

8 See S. 3, N. 2. I should recommend to repeat the art. before each of the following six nouns.

9 is a native of, stammt aus.

10 ‘Now — puddings’. This elliptic clause must be completed in German. Say ‘which is now so largely (much) used in pies (Pasteten) and puddings’.

11 aus.

12 ‘some’, here irgend ein.

13 Erdartischocke, f.