146 



VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



thrown into a sieve with a mesh small enough to not allow the 

 seeds to pass through, and the pulp is washed through the 

 sieve, leaving- the clean seed, which is carefully dried. If the 

 cucumbers are allowed to get rotten before the seed is taken 

 out, the skins will become mixed with the seed, and the seed 

 will be discolored. 



DANDELION, ( Taraxacum officinale. ) 



Native of Europe. — Perennial. — The dandelion is a famil- 

 iar plant to almost every one. It is now of spontaneous 



growth here, and is used for 

 greens in its wild state; but the 

 cultivated varieties are quite 

 an improvement on the wild 

 plants. The best method of 

 growing it is by sowing the seed 

 in the spring in drills ten in- 

 ches apart and thinning out the 

 plants to three inches apart in 

 rows. The seed is somewhat 

 difficult to start, and it is a 

 good plan to go over each row 

 twice with the seed sower, so as 

 as to mix the seed up with the 

 soil, since by this method some of it will be sure to be pro- 

 perly covered for germinating. It is sometimes used in the 

 fall but not generally until spring. It is often forced by cov- 

 ering the bed with the hotbed sash or by transplanting to 

 hotbeds or cold frames. It is sometimes blanched and used 

 as a salad, for which purpose it is much like endive. While 

 the plant is a perennial, yet only one crop should be harvest- 

 ed, since after the first cutting there are many sprouts pro- 

 duced from each root, so that none of them are large enough for 

 good market plants. The plants should always be plowed in 

 before they ripen seed, unless seed is to be saved, to prevent 

 its scattering and becoming a nuisance. A variety called the 

 Improved-Thick-Leaved is the most esteemed. 



EGG PLANT. ( Solanum Melongena, ) 

 Native of South America. — Annual. — Stem erect and 



Fig. 73. Dandelion. 



