Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 8.djvu/154

 VEGETABLE AND FRUIT SELLERS. (443)

HESE form a very useful class of market gardeners, who sell the produce of their own gardens in the markets of Madras and other towns and cities. They are of good caste, Sudras, ranking with cultivators of the soil, but not intermarrying with them. Every kind of native vegetable is grown by them, and we see carrots, turnips, radishes, onions, and other roots in their baskets. These roots are sold by weight, and all grasses by little bundles. The "Covent Garden" at Madras is a busy scene in early morning, when natives flock to the vegetable stalls in throngs to buy their daily need, which is both abundant and cheap. English vegetables are not much cultivated, as, indeed, they do not thrive well in the climate.