218 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



the courses of natural streams. In Europe, trenches 

 from 16 to 20 feet wide for growing water cress are often 

 excavated, into which running water may be turned at 

 pleasure. In the bottom of these trenches the roots of 

 the cress are planted. The water is then let in, and the 

 plants are not interfered with until they have grown strong 

 enough to yield a crop of leaves. It is often practicable 

 to make narrow beds for this purpose about springs or slow 

 running streams. 



CRESS, OR PEPPER GRASS (Lepidium sativum) 



Native of Persia. An annual. An early vegetable used as 

 a salad and for garnishing, and of the easiest culture. It 

 should be sown very early in the spring in the hotbed or 

 outdoors in rows one foot or less apart. As it quickly 

 runs to seed, a succession of sowings should be made every 

 eight or ten days. It is in demand only in the early spring 

 or in winter. It can easily be grown in a window box in a 

 dwelling house. Flowers are white and small ; seeds com- 

 paratively large. 



RADISHES (Raphanus sativus} 



Description. Probably a native of Asia. Annual or, 

 in the case of the winter radish, biennial. The flower 

 stalks are branched, about three feet high, and have white 

 or lilac-colored flowers, but never yellow. The seed is 

 roundish or oval, but somewhat flattened, and much larger 

 than cabbage or turnip seed and much more variable in 

 size. Some recent experiments show that the large radish 

 seeds germinate better and produce marketable roots 

 sooner and more uniform in shape than small seed. 



Culture. The radish is a vegetable of very easy cul- 

 ture. The roots of some kinds reach edible size in three 

 weeks when grown in best conditions, and are a favorite 



