The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 57

_Propagation and Culture._--"It may be propagated by seed sown in April or May, and transplanted, when the plants are fit to handle, into a nursery-bed. In August or September, they should be again transplanted where they are to remain, setting them in rows a foot apart, and ten inches asunder in the rows, in ground of a loamy nature, trenched to the depth of fifteen or eighteen inches, as their roots penetrate to a considerable depth. The following spring, the leaves are fit to gather for use; and should be picked as they advance, taking the largest first.

In this way, a bed will continue productive for several years.

"Being a hardy perennial, it may also be increased by dividing the plant into pieces, each having a portion of the root and a small bit of the crown, which is thickly set with buds, which spring freely on being replanted.

"Most of the species of this genus, both indigenous and exotic, are plants of easy cultivation, and may be safely used as articles of food."--_M'Int._

_Use._--The same as Spinach.

CHAPTER VII.

SALAD PLANTS.

Alexanders. Brook-lime. Buckshorn Plantain. Burnet. Caterpillar. Celery.

Celeriac, or Turnip-rooted Celery. Chervil. Chiccory, or Succory.

Corchorus. Corn Salad. Cress, or Peppergra.s.s. Cuckoo Flower. Dandelion.

Endive. Horse-radish. Lettuce. Madras Radish. Mallow, Curled-leaf.

Mustard. Nasturtium. Garden Picridium. Purslain. Rape. Roquette, or Rocket. Samphire. Scurvy-gra.s.s. Snails. Sweet-scented Chervil, or Sweet Cicely. Tarragon. Valeriana. Water-cress. Winter-cress, or Yellow Rocket. Wood-sorrel. Worms.

ALEXANDERS.

Alisanders. Smyrnium olusatrum.

A hardy, biennial plant, with foliage somewhat resembling that of Celery. Stem three to four feet high, much branched; radical leaves pale-green, compound,--those of the stem similar in form, but of smaller size. The branches of the plant terminate in large umbels, or spherical bunches of yellowish flowers; which are succeeded by roundish fruits, each of which contains two crescent-shaped seeds.

_Sowing and Culture._--It thrives best in light, deep loam; and is raised from seed sown annually. Make the drills two and a half or three feet apart, and cover the seeds an inch deep. When the plants are two or three inches high, thin to twelve inches apart; or sow a few seeds in a nursery-bed, and transplant.

_Blanching._--When the plants are well advanced, they should be gradually earthed up about the stems in the process of cultivation, in the manner of blanching Celery or Cardoons; like which, they are also gathered for use, and preserved during winter.

_To raise Seed._--Leave a few plants unblanched; protect with stable-litter, or other convenient material, during winter; and they will flower, and produce an abundance of seeds, the following summer.

_Use._--It was formerly much cultivated for its leaf-stalks; which, after being blanched, were used as a pot-herb and for salad. They have a pleasant, aromatic taste and odor; but the plant is now rarely grown, Celery being almost universally preferred.

PERFOLIATE ALEXANDERS.

Smyrnium perfoliatum.

A hardy, biennial species, from Italy; stem three feet in height, grooved or furrowed, hollow; leaves many times divided, and of a yellowish-green color; flowers, in terminal bunches, yellowish-white; seeds black, of the form of those of the common species, but smaller.

It is considered superior to the last named, as it not only blanches better, but is more crisp and tender, and not so harsh-flavored.

BROOK-LIME.

American Brook-lime. Marsh Speedwell. Veronica beccabunga.

Brook-lime is a native of this country, but is also common to Great Britain. It is a hardy perennial, and grows naturally in ditches, and streams of water, but is rarely cultivated. The stem is from ten to fifteen inches in height, thick, smooth, and succulent, and sends out roots at the joints, by which the plant spreads and is propagated; the leaves are opposite, oval, smooth, and fleshy; the flowers are produced in long bunches, are of a fine blue color, and stand upon short stems,--they are more or less abundant during most of the summer, and are followed by heart-shaped seed-vessels, containing small, roundish seeds.

_Cultivation._--It may be propagated by dividing the roots, and setting the plants in wet localities, according to their natural habit. It will thrive well when grown with Water-cress.

_Use._--The whole plant is used as a salad, in the same manner and for the same purposes as Water-cress. It is considered an excellent anti-s...o...b..tic.

BUCKSHORN PLANTAIN.

Star of the Earth. Plantago coronopus.

A hardy annual, indigenous to Great Britain, France, and other countries of Europe. The root-leaves are put forth horizontally, and spread regularly about a common centre somewhat in the form of a rosette; the flower-stem is leafless, branching, and from eight to ten inches high; flowers yellow; the seeds are quite small, of a clear, brown color, and retain their power of germination three years,--nearly two hundred and thirty thousand are contained in an ounce.

_Soil and Cultivation._--It succeeds best in a soil comparatively light; and the seed should be sown in April. Sow thinly, broadcast, or in shallow drills eight inches apart. When the plants are about an inch high, thin them to three or four inches apart.

_Use._--The plant is cultivated for its leaves, which are used as a salad. They should be plucked while still young and tender, or when about half grown.

BURNET. _Mill._

Poterium sanguisorba.

Burnet is a hardy, perennial plant, indigenous to England, where it is found on dry, upland, chalky soils. When fully developed, it is from a foot and a half to two feet in height. The leaves proceeding directly from the root are produced on long stems, and are composed of from eleven to fifteen smaller leaves, which are of an oval form, regularly toothed, and generally, but not uniformly, smooth. The branches, which are somewhat numerous, terminate in long, slender stems, each of which produces an oval or roundish bunch of purplish-red, fertile and infertile flowers. The fertile flowers produce two seeds each, which ripen in August or September. These are oblong, four-sided, of a yellowish color, and retain their vitality two years. Thirty-five hundred are contained in an ounce.

_Sowing and Culture._--The plant is easily propagated by seeds, which may be sown either in autumn or spring. Sow in drills ten inches apart, half or three-fourths of an inch deep; and thin, while the plants are young, to six or eight inches in the row. If the seeds are allowed to scatter from the plants in autumn, young seedlings will come up plentifully in the following spring, and may be transplanted to the distances before directed. In dry soil, the plants will continue for many years; requiring no further care than to be occasionally hoed, and kept free from weeds. It may also be propagated by dividing the roots; but, as it is easily grown from seeds, this method is not generally practised.

_Use._--The leaves have a warm, piquant taste, and, when bruised, resemble cuc.u.mbers in odor. They are sometimes used as salad, and occasionally form an ingredient in soups. The roots, after being dried and pulverized, are employed in cases of internal hemorrhage.

It is very little used in this country, and rarely seen in gardens.

_Varieties._--There are three varieties; the distinctions, however, being neither permanent nor important.

HAIRY-LEAVED BURNET.

Leaves and stems comparatively rough or hairy; in other respects, similar to the Smooth-leaved. Either of the varieties may be propagated by dividing the roots.

LARGE-SEEDED BURNET.

This, like the others, is a sub-variety, and probably but a seminal variation.

SMOOTH-LEAVED BURNET.