CHAPTER XX 

 THE CLASSIFICATION OF VEGETABLES 



260. Methods of classification. The grouping of vege- 

 tables gives the student a better understanding of the 

 character, requirements and uses of the various crops. 

 The arrangement based solely upon botanical relation- 

 ship is the most exact system, but in many cases is of 

 little advantage in helping to determine the best cultural 

 conditions for each crop. The uses of the plants also con- 

 stitute an important basis for classification. All vege- 

 tables may be placed in two general groups in respect to 

 their hardiness, viz., (i) "tender" plants, or those which 

 are injured or killed by frost, and which require high 

 temperatures for successful growth, as tomato, pepper, 

 eggplant, bean, melons, squash, cucumber, sweet corn 

 and sweet potato; (2) "hardy" plants, or those which 

 are not injured by frost, many of them in fact bearing 

 severe freezing and thriving at temperatures too low for 

 "tender" plants. The "hardy" crops include pea, cab- 

 bage, kale, spinach, asparagus, rhubarb, celery, lettuce, 

 cress, radish and many other plants. The line, however, 

 between "tender" and "hardy" plants is largely arbi- 

 trary. Celery, for example, is properly classed with 

 hardy plants, while comparatively light frost or low tem- 

 peratures may check the growth of young plants and 

 cause them to produce seed shoots. The onion is also 

 regarded as a hardy plant, while seedlings of certain 

 varieties are injured by light frosts. 



The best system of classification has been devised by 

 Prof. L. II. Bailey ("The Principles of Vegetable Gar- 

 dening," pp. 240-242), and is followed in this chapter. It 

 is based primarily upon methods of culture, although 



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