128 VEGECULTURE 



are cut into lengths, peeled, and put into jar; with syrup, and 

 thus candied form a delicious confection styled " Mock Angelica," i 

 on account of the resemblance to Angelica similarly treated. 



MUSTARD (Sinapsis alba). A plant of rapid growth asso- 

 ciated with Cress as one of our best small salads. The seeds 

 should be sown a day or two later than those of the Cress they 

 axe to accompany (see Cress for culture). Rape seed is often 

 substituted for Mustard seed ; there is not much difference in 

 any respect. In China, two other kinds of Mustard are grown : 

 one, a tuberous-rooted vegetable, with Radish-like roots of 

 good size ; and the other a five-foot plant, possessing large 

 leaves, fifteen inches long, which are used as Spinach. The 

 flavour of both Mustards, it is averred, are mild and most agree- 

 able. The leafy kind is a subject for autumn sowing, and its 

 leaves are used as a winter vegetable. 



NASTURTIUM ( Tropaolu m) . The leaves of this Indian 

 Cress are not used nearly as much as they should be, in salads, 

 during the summer, for which purpose they are most excellent. 

 The flower-buds and seeds, too, form a very agreeable pickle. 

 The utility side of the Nasturtium is undoubtedly very much 

 neglected in Britain, the plant being grown chiefly for its floral 

 attractiveness, and with much reason. There are both tall 

 and dwarf, single and double strains among the common Nas- 

 turtiums, and a wide range of colour continually being added 

 to ; while the tuberous-rooted Nasturtium and Tropaolum 

 speciosum, a refined climber, are excellent for hiding ugly spots 

 in the kitchen-garden. 



PURSLANE (Portulaca oleracea). There are two varieties 

 of this Salad-herb, which differ only in the way of colour of 

 the leaves the Green and the Golden. The plants are of 

 annual duration, grown from seed sown in drills in light soil, 

 successionally, from May to August ; and the leaves and stems, 

 used as salads or cooked as a vegetable, may be gathered about 

 two months from the date of sowing. Sowings may also be 

 made on hotbeds or in frames to secure a winter and early 

 spring supply. If plenty of water is given them, the plants 

 will supply sufficient material for two or three gatherings. 



WINTER PURSLANE (Claytonia per foliata}.- -This is an 

 entirely different style of plant, of peculiar appearance ; but its 

 culture and uses are identical with that of the ordinary Purslane. 



