n8 THE SCHOOL GARDEN BOOK 



either of the two ways. Lettuce, cress, and corn salad are 

 adapted to the spring school garden, while endive should be 

 sown in late summer for the autumn term of school. Celery 

 and parsley are long season crops. 



By a reference to the diagram it will be seen that those 

 vegetables whose seeds and fruits are eaten are of great 

 importance in furnishing food to mankind. The Pulse 

 Crops include peas and beans of all kinds. The tomato, 

 egg-plant, pepper, and physalis or husk tomato, are fre- 

 quently included under the name Solanaceous Crops, because 

 they all belong to the family Solanacece, to which also the 

 potato belongs. Were the little potato balls which develop 

 from the flowers of the potato the edible part, this crop 

 would be included along with the tomato under the present 

 heading. 



The Vine Crops form a very distinctive group, all belong- 

 ing to a single family of plants, Cucurbitaceoe, on which 

 account these are often called Cucurbit Crops. Here we 

 find the cucumber, melon, pumpkin, and squash. 



The last group includes the sweet corn, okra or gumbo, 

 and the martynia. The two last named are plants which 

 are grown for their pods, although they are not very gener- 

 ally known throughout the Northern States; while the 

 former is the only member of the great family of grains and 

 grasses which is grown as a vegetable. 



