VARIOUS VEGETABLES 277 



commercial note. It resembles a squash and is cooked in many 

 ways. It is a free-growing vine and very productive. One Cali- 

 fornia grower reports a single vine bearing more than 350 fruits, 

 averaging more than ten ounces weight. D. F. Reichard, of Los 

 Angeles county, gives the California Cultivator these cultural points : 



Being a tropical vine it grows only in warm weather. In southern Cali- 

 fornia it is planted in February. The fruit, which envelops only one seed, is 

 planted whole with the large end down, leaving the small end out of the 

 ground. The young plant sprouts from the large end. Plant where they are 

 to grow in well drained soil. Keep them only damp enough to allow good 

 growth until warm weather comes on, when they will require lots of water. 

 If the early sprouts are frozen back do not be alarmed as new growth will 

 soon appear. The first year runners 20 to 30 feet will be made and probably 

 some fruit. The winter frost will freeze these runners back to the root, but 

 in the spring new shoots will come out and will grow to from 30 to 60 feet, 

 which, if well trellised, will produce hundreds of fruits. During September 

 the white, insignificant blooms begin to appear; in four or five weeks the 

 small fruit are old enough for use. They are cooked and used the same as 

 summer squash and eggplant. 



CHERVIL. Scandix cerefolium and Chazrophyllum bulbosum. 



There are two edible plants known as chervil, the first fur- 

 nishes fragrant leaves which are used as seasoning and in salad, 

 the second an edible root for boiling. The first is a hardy annual, 

 and can be grown from seed, as lettuce is sowing whenever moist- 

 ure is adequate. It does not thrive in high heat but can be helped 

 by shading when necessary. The turnip-rooted chervil resembles 

 a carrot in form, and may be grown as carrots are. The seed soon 

 loses its germinating power and must be fresh. 



CORN SALADS. Valerianella olitoria and eriocarpa. 



Corn salads are popular winter growing salad plants, and are 

 of easy culture. The seed is sown whenever moisture is present in 

 the fall, and a succession of foliage can be had all through the 

 rainy season. The culture is the same as for lettuce. The plant 

 also resembles lettuce; we have some varieties of open growth and 

 some which are disposed to form somewhat compact heads of 

 foliage. In this state both the French and Italian improved kinds 

 are hardy in California valley winters. 



CRESS. Lepidium sativum, and WATER CRESS. Nasturtium 



officinale. 



Garden cress is easily grown all the year in the coast region 

 if the ground is kept moist. The seed should be sown at short 

 intervals, as the leaves come on very quickly. In the interior it is 

 chiefly a winter plant, as summer heat checks leaf growth and 

 carries the plant to seed. Water cress has grown freely in Cali- 

 fornia ponds and pools, and was found in such places by our earlier 

 botanists. In California it makes very rank growth, producing 



