64 CRESS. 



CRESS. 

 Cresson. Lepidium sativum. 



VARIETIES. 



Curled, or Peppergrass. I Broad-leaved Garden. 



Cress is a small salad herb, and is generally used with 

 Lettuce, White JMustard, Rape, Chersdl, &c. It may be 

 ftown very thick in little drills, as should salad seed in gene- 

 ral, and cut before it comes into rough leaf. A small quan- 

 tity in the salad season, which is spring and autumn, may be 

 Bown every week in rich ground, free from weeds. 



CRESS, (Water.) 



Cresson de fontaine. Sisymbr.ium nasturtium. 



The Water Cress is a creeping, amphibious perennial, and 

 is grown very extensively for the London Markets. Loudon 

 says, in his Encyclopoedia of Gardening, that " The most 

 suitable description of water is a clear stream, not more than 

 an inch and a half deep, running over sand or gi'avel ; the 

 least favourable, deep, still water, or a muddy bottom. It is 

 highly advantageous to make the plantations in newly-risen 

 spring water, as the plants do not only thnve better in it, but, 

 ^n consequence of its being rarely frozen, they generally con 

 tinue in vegetation, and in a good state for gathering, through 

 the whole winter season. The plants are disposed in rows 

 parallel with the course of the stream, about eighteen inches 

 apart. When these plants begin to grow in water one inch 

 and a half deep, they soon check the current so as to raise 

 the water to the height of three inches above the plants, 

 which is considered the most favourable circumstance in 

 which they can be placed. It is absolutely necessary to have 

 a constant current, as where there is any obstruction to the 

 stream, the plants cease to thrive. After they have been cut 

 about three times, they begin to stock, and then the oftenej 

 they are cut the better. 



