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Ам 
OF HORTICULTURE. 
395 .— 
Crepis— continued. 
Fic. 545. CREPIS RUBRA, showing Habit, and Single Flower-head 
(natural size). 
CEESCENTIA (named after Pietro Crescenzi, an 
Italian writer on agriculture, in the thirteenth century, ` 
author of “Opus ruralium commodorum"). Овр. Bigno- 
niacee. e stove evergreen, spreading trees. Flowers 
solitary, rising from the trunk or branches; corolla large, 
sub-campanulate; tube short; throat large, ventricose ; 
. limb spreading, five-cleft, unequal ; lobes toothed or curled. 
Leaves alternate, solitary, or in fascicles, simple, entire. 
They grow well in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand. 
Ripened cuttings will strike root in sand, under a hand 
glass, in heat. These trees require to be so large before 
they reach a flowering state, that it is not likely they will 
ever be much cultivated in this country. АП are natives 
of tropical America. Some of the species described are: 
acuminata, cucurbitina, Cujete (Calabash-tree), macro- 
phylla, and obovata. 
CRESCENTIACEZ. An order now included under 
Bignoniacee. 
CRESS, AMERICAN or LAND (Barbarea precoz). 
This much resembles Water Cress in flavour. Sow monthly 
from March till September, in rows 1ft. apart, and thin to 
din. or біп. from plant to plant. Gather the outer leaves 
only for use; and, in winter, transfer some plants to hand- 
lights, or protect with bracken or dry litter during frost. 
"The leaves may be used for the same purposes as the 
. CRESS, GARDEN (Lepidium sativum). Very popular 
salading plants, generally grown (and eaten) with Mustard, 
both requiring very similar treatment. For small salading 
the common Cress is largely used, and the seed is cheaper 
than the other kinds. Boxes, from about 1%. square, and 
3in. deep, are most useful for growing it in winter. They 
should be filled to within iin. of the top with friable soil, 
and the seed sown rather thickly, without covering them 
with soil The boxes should be covered with panes of 
glass, and placed, after watering, in а warm house; in 
from ten to fourteen days, the salad will be fit for use. A 
succession may be kept up by frequent sowings. Cress can 
be grown out of doors in summer, either in boxes or sown 
in a cool place. It should be kept free from soil on the 
top, or it is difficult to have it without being gritty. 
- Plain or common, the sort used when only the 
seed leaves are formed; Curled, this is a hardy sort, and, 
_if allowed to grow, the leaves may be used for garnishing 
88 well as salad; Golden or Australian, a dwarf yellowish 
form, grown the same way as the preceding, but not fit 
‘for use so early as common Cress. ` Tm 
CRESS, INDIAN. See Tropeolum. 
CRESS ROCKET. Se Vella Pseudo-Cytisus. 
CRESS, WATER (Nasturtium officinale). Water Cress 
is in great demand at all times, excepting in two or three of _ 
the summer months, when the plants are flowering and pro- 
ducing their seed. It is a hardy perennial and a native 
of Britain, where it grows in ditches and small streams, 
The best quality is obtained from shallow streams of running 
water, free from mud if possible, as the latter spoils the 
flavour. Propagation is effected by seed, or by division of 
^ _ l 1 сз P 
Fic. 544. WATER CR (NASTURTIUM OFFICINALE). 
the plants. Water Cress (see Fig. 544) may be cultivated 
in soilif a suitable place cannot be obtained to grow it in 
water, but the produce is inferior. If required to b "n 
in the ground, а shady, cool position should be chosen, and 
the seed sown in spring, in shallow drills, thinning the — — 
plants to біп. when large enough. The soil must be kept - 
constantly moist by watering. In autumn, some plants - 
may be placed in pans, and transferred to а warm house 
io keep up a supply during winter. The advantage ; 
many if a shallow stream can be obtained. Well-root 
young specimens should be selected ; and, when established, 
the more the tops are gathered, the better,as the plants 
are thereby induced to produce more. The motion of 
the water prevents its freezing in т, 
the Cress may be gathered at any ti Special sl 
ponds, with appliances for drawing all the water off w 
required, are the best means of cultivation, 
a system cannot, in the majority of cases, | 
There are two or three forms of Wat 
is not much difference in flavour when 
same conditions. The large Brown-lea! 
preferred in the market, but the Gr 
be of the easiest culture. + 
CREST. Applied to the raised regular 
appendage terminating amy ра 
CRICKETS. А group of insects, comprising House 
Crickets (Acheta domestica, see Fig. 5% даі 
545. HOUSE CRICKET (GRYLLUS DOMESTICUS, 
pestris), and Mole Crickets | 
| Orthopters, to which the © 
