330 SALAD PLANTS. 



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 quantity 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. 



Varieties. 



Broad-leaved A coarse 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 This is the variety most generally cultivated. 

 Plain-leaved 



Cress. 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. Leaves larger than those of the common plain 



GARNISHING . 



CKESS. variety, or a fine green color, and irilled and 



