1990 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OK PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



(1) Among warm climate vegetables 

 (often called tropical) we have tomato, 

 corn, beans, pepper, eggplant, cucum- 

 ber, musk melon, watermelon, squash, 

 pumpkin and okra. These plants all re- 

 quire hot weather for their growth, are 

 severely injured by first hard frost, and 

 should not be planted in open ground un- 

 til warm weather Is assured. They are 

 generally at their best on a warm south- 

 ern exposure and in soil having a little 

 sand in its composition. These plants 

 are all natives of hot climates and will 

 not survive long in cold climates when 

 left to themselves. 



(2) Among cold climate vegetables, 

 we have practically all those commonly 

 grown not mentioned above, (1) such as 

 asparagus, rhubarb, horseradish, salsify 

 and parsnip, which stand our severest 

 winters without injury; and those that are 

 less hardy, such as onions, leeks, peas, 

 beets, spinach, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, 

 cauliflower, cress, kale, kohlrabi, rad- 

 ishes, rutabaga, turnip, carrot, parsley, 

 celery, celerlac, lettuce, endive, potato, 

 tomato and others. These all grow well 

 at a cool temperature and most of them 

 will stand some frost without injury. 

 They may be divided into those with tops 

 that are frost hardy or frost tender 

 as follows: 



By frost tender is meant those whose 

 tops are injured by a light frost, such as 

 potato, asparagus, strawberry, tomato, 

 and of course all the tropical plants men- 

 tioned above (1). Some plants like aspar- 

 agus and our native oak trees may have 

 foliage that is very susceptible to frost 

 but are hardy in winter. 



By frost hardy is meant those having 

 foliage that is not injured by light frost, 

 such as horseradish, rhubarb, onions, 

 leeks, garlic, peas, spinach, beets, cabbage, 

 Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cress, kale, 

 kohlrabi, radishes, rutabaga, turnip, car- 

 rot, parsley, celery, lettuce, endive and 

 most of the garden herbs. 



Botanical Classiiieation 



All plants may be divided into families, 

 each of which has its distinguishing fea- 

 tures. Our garden vegetables and herbs 



belong to at least 17 families, the spe- 

 cial features of each oC which will be 

 found with the cultural directions for the 

 plants grouped under them; but for con- 

 venience a list is here given, arranged 

 under their proper family names: 



Funy;i Group or Family 



Mushrooms or toadstools. 

 Grass Family 

 Oramineae 

 Corn. 



Lily Family 

 Lilliaceae 

 Asparagus, onion, leeks, garlic. 



Hiickwhcat Family 



Polycjonaceae 

 Rhubarb or pie-plant. 



(Joosi'foot Family 



Chenopodiaceae 

 Beet, Swiss chard and spinach. 

 Cabbage Family 

 Cruciferae 

 Cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, rutabaga, 

 turnip, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, 

 horseradish, cress and watercress. 



Clover Family 



Leguminosae 

 Beans, peas and pulse. 



Mallow Family 

 Malvaceae 

 Okra. 



Parsnip Family 

 Umhelliferae 

 Parsnip, parsley, carrot, celery, celerlac, 

 caraway, dill, anise, coriander and fennel. 



Morning (Jlory Family 



Convolvalaceae 

 Sweet potato. 



Mint Family 

 Labiatae 

 Sweet basil, lavender, balm, spearmint, 

 peppermint, summer savory, winter sav- 

 ory, sweet marjoram, thyme, sage and cat- 

 nip. 



Potato Family 

 Solanaceae 

 Tomato, potato, eggplant, peppers and 

 strawberry tomato. 



