142 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



CRESS. (Pepper Grass. ) [Lepidium sativum.) 



Native of Persia. — Annual. — An early spring vegetable, 

 used as a salad and for garnishing and of the easiest cul- 

 ture. It should be sown very early in the spring in the hot- 

 bed or outdoors in rows one foot or less apart. As it quickly 

 runs to seed, a succession of sowings should be made every eight 

 or ten days. It is only in demand in the early spring or in 

 winter. It can easily be grown in a window box in a dwelling- 

 house. Flowers white and small; seeds comparatively large. 



WATEPv CRESS. {Nasturtium officinale.) 



Native of Europe. — Perennial. — An aquatic plant with 

 long stems, which readily take root in moist soil ov in water. 

 It is esteemed for use as a salad on account of its pleasant 

 pungent flavor. Leaves are compound, with roundish divis- 

 ions: flowers, small, white, in terminal spikes; seeds, usually 

 few, very fine, in slightly curved pods. 



Culture. It can only be cultivated successfully in moist 

 situations and generally does best along the edges of streams, 

 where it grows partially in the water. It may, however, be 

 grown successfully in any moist soil, even in a greenhouse. It 

 is very hardy, but for best results should be covered with water 

 during winter. Most of the supply for our markets comes 

 from along the courses of natural streams. In Europe, trenches 

 from 16 to 20 feet wide for growing water cress are often ex- 

 cavated, into which running water may be turned at pleasure. 

 In the bottom of these trenches, the roots of the cress are 

 planted. The water is then let in, and the plants are not in- 

 terfered with until they have grown strong enough to yield a 

 crop of leaves. It is often practicable to make narrow beds 

 about springs or slow running streams for this purpose. 



CUCUMBER. ( Cucumis sativus. ) 



Native of the East Indies. — Annual. — A creeping plant with 

 angular, flexible stems, rough to touch and furnished with 

 tendrils. The flowers are yellow, in the axils of the leaves, 

 some male, others female; the latter flowers are on the ovary, 

 which becomes the cucumber. The plants produce flowers and 

 fruit in succession over a long season, and these are naturally 



