The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 62

It is cultivated and used in the same manner as the species before described. It is, however, earlier, milder in flavor, and slower in running to seed. The leaves are sometimes employed early in spring as a subst.i.tute for Spinach; but their downy or hairy character renders them less valuable for salad purposes than those of some of the varieties of the Common Corn Salad.

CRESS, OR PEPPERGRa.s.s.

Lepidium sativum.

The Common Cress of the garden is a hardy annual, and a native of Persia. When in flower, the stem of the plant is smooth and branching, and about fifteen inches high. The leaves are variously divided, and are plain or curled, according to the variety; the flowers are white, very small, and produced in groups, or bunches; seeds small, oblong, rounded, of a reddish-brown color, and of a peculiar, pungent odor,--about fourteen thousand are contained in an ounce, and they retain their germinative properties five years.

_Soil and Cultivation._--Cress will flourish in any fair garden soil, and is always best when grown early or late in the season. The seed vegetates quickly, and the plants grow rapidly. As they are milder and more tender while young, the seed should be sown in succession, at intervals of about a fortnight; making the first sowing early in April.

Rake the surface of the ground fine and smooth, and sow the seed rather thickly, in shallow drills six or eight inches apart. Half an ounce of seed will be sufficient for thirty feet of drill.

_To raise Seed._--Leave a dozen strong plants of the first sowing uncut.

They will ripen their seed in August, and yield a quant.i.ty sufficient for the supply of a garden of ordinary size.

_Use._--The leaves, while young, have a warm, pungent taste; and are eaten as a salad, either separately, or mixed with lettuce or other salad plants. The leaves should be cut or plucked before the plant has run to flower, as they then become acrid and unpalatable. The curled varieties are also used for garnishing.

BROAD-LEAVED CRESS.

A coa.r.s.e variety, with broad, spatulate leaves. It is sometimes grown for feeding poultry, and is also used for soups; but it is less desirable as a salad than most of the other sorts.

COMMON OR PLAIN-LEAVED CRESS.

This is the variety most generally cultivated. It has plain leaves, and consequently is not so desirable a sort for garnishing. As a salad kind, it is tender and delicate, and considered equal, if not superior, to the Curled varieties.

CURLED CRESS.

Garnishing Cress.

Leaves larger than those of the common plain variety, of a fine green color, and frilled and curled on the borders in the manner of some kinds of Parsley. It is used as a salad, and is also employed as a garnish.

It is very liable to degenerate by becoming gradually less curled. To keep the variety pure, select only the finest curled plants for seed.

GOLDEN CRESS. _Trans._

This variety is of slower growth than the Common Cress. The leaves are of a yellowish-green, flat, oblong, scalloped on the borders, sometimes entire, and of a much thinner texture than any of the varieties of the Common Cress. It is very dwarf; and is consequently short, when cut as a salad-herb for use. It has a mild and delicate flavor. When run to flower, it does not exceed eighteen inches in height.

It deserves more general cultivation, as affording a pleasant addition to the varieties of small salads.

The seeds are of a paler color, or more yellow, than those of the other sorts.

NORMANDY CURLED CRESS. _M'int._

A very excellent variety, introduced by Mr. Charles M'Intosh, and described as being hardier than the other kinds, and therefore better adapted for sowing early in spring or late in summer.

The leaves are finely cut and curled, and make not only a good salad, but a beautiful garnish. The seed should be sown thinly, in good soil, in drills six inches apart. In gathering, instead of cutting the plants over, the leaves should be picked off singly. After this operation, fresh leaves are soon put forth.

It is difficult to procure the seed true; the Common Curled being, in general, subst.i.tuted for it.

CUCKOO FLOWER.

Small Water-cress. Cardamine pratensis.

A hardy, perennial plant, introduced from Europe, and naturalized to a limited extent in some of the Northern States. Stem about fifteen inches high, erect, smooth; leaves deeply divided,--the divisions of the radical or root leaves rounded, those of the stalk long, narrow, and pointed; the flowers are comparatively large, white, or rose-colored, and produced in erect, terminal cl.u.s.ters; the seeds are of a brown color, small, oblong, shortened on one side, rounded on the opposite, and retain their vegetating powers four years,--nearly thirty thousand are contained in an ounce.

_Soil._--It succeeds best in moist, loamy soil; and should have a shady situation.

_Propagation and Cultivation._--It may be propagated from seeds, or by a division of the roots. The seeds are sown in April or May, in shallow drills a foot asunder. The roots may be divided in spring or autumn.

_Use._--The leaves have the warm, pungent taste common to the Cress family; and are used in their young state, like Cress, as a salad.

Medically, they have the reputation of being highly antis...o...b..tic and of aiding digestion. There are four varieties:--

_White Flowering._--A variety with white, single flowers.

_Purple Flowering._--Flowers purple, single. Either of these varieties may be propagated from seeds, or by a division of the roots.

_Double Flowering White._--Flowers white, double.

_Double Flowering Purple._--A double variety, with purple blossoms.

These varieties are propagated by a division of the roots.

Double-flowering plants are rarely produced from seeds.

THE DANDELION.

Leontodon taraxac.u.m.

The Dandelion, though spontaneously abundant, is not a native of this country. Introduced from Europe, it has become extensively naturalized, abounding in gardens, on lawns, about cultivated lands; and, in May and June, often, of itself alone, const.i.tuting no inconsiderable portion of the herbage of rich pastures and mowing-fields.

It is a hardy, perennial plant, with an irregular, branching, brownish root. The leaves are all radical, long, runcinate, or deeply and sharply toothed; the flower-stem is from six to twelve inches and upwards in height, leafless, and produces at its top a large, yellow, solitary blossom; the seeds are small, oblong, of a brownish color, and will keep three years.

_Soil and Cultivation._--Although the Dandelion will thrive in almost any description of soil, it nevertheless produces much the largest, most tender, and best-flavored leaves, as well as the greatest crop of root, when grown in mellow, well-enriched ground. Before sowing, stir the soil, either by the spade or plough, deeply and thoroughly; smooth off the surface fine and even; and sow the seeds in drills half an inch deep, and twelve or fifteen inches apart. If cultivated for spring greens, or for blanching for salad, the seed must be sown in May or June. In July, thin out the young plants to two or three inches apart; cultivate during the season in the usual form of cultivating other garden productions; and, in April and May of the ensuing spring, the plants will be fit for the table.

For very early use, select a portion of the bed equal to the supply required; and, in November, spread it rather thickly over with coa.r.s.e stable-manure. About the beginning of February, remove the litter, and place boards or planks on four sides, of a square or parallelogram, in the manner of a common hot-bed, providing for a due inclination towards the south. Over these put frames of gla.s.s, as usually provided for hot-beds; adding extra protection by covering with straw or other material in intensely cold weather. Thus treated, the plants will be ready for cutting two or three weeks earlier than those in the open ground.

When grown for its roots, the ground must be prepared in the manner before directed; and the seeds should be sown in October, in drills fourteen or fifteen inches asunder. In June following, thin out the young plants to two or three inches apart; keep the ground loose, and free from weeds, during the summer; and, in October, the roots will have attained their full size, and be ready for harvesting, which is usually performed with a common subsoil plough. After being drawn, they are washed entirely clean, sliced, and dried in the shade; when they are ready for the market.

_Use._--The Dandelion resembles Endive, and affords one of the earliest, as well as one of the best and most healthful, of spring greens. "The French use it bleached, as a salad; and if large, and well bleached, it is better than Endive, much more tender, and of finer flavor." The roots, after being dried as before directed, const.i.tute an article of considerable commercial importance; being extensively employed as a subst.i.tute for, or mixed in various proportions with, coffee.

It may be grown for greens at trifling cost; and a bed twelve or fourteen feet square will afford a family an abundant supply.

Under cultivation, and even in its natural state, the leaves of different plants vary in a marked degree from each other, not only in size, and manner of growth, but also in form. Judicious and careful cultivation would give a degree of permanency to these distinctions; and varieties might undoubtedly be produced, well adapted for the various purposes for which the plant is grown, whether for the roots, for blanching, or for greens.