THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



I recommend it as one of the most easily cultivated 

 and most prolific of the vegetables, to be used for 

 salads or greens. It lives through the winter with- 

 out covering, and its stalks are very much like those 

 of rhubarb or pieplant. Most country homes may 

 also have endive, and where there is water or a 

 brook, watercress. 



The improvement in lettuces has been remark- 

 able for the last twenty-five years. The introduc- 

 tion of the curled and the black-seeded Simpson 

 marked a long stride ahead. Then came the Han- 

 son, which is still exceedingly popular. I do not, 

 however, know of a single variety that is better, for 

 those who are not professional gardeners, than the 

 Mignonette. It is a quick grower, generally com- 

 ing up of itself the second season and forming 

 little heads about as big as your fist. It is delicious 

 in quality. The Denver Market, and the large 

 Boston, and the White Tennis Ball, and the Grand 

 Rapids, are all superb sorts. One of the best for 

 forcing is the Stonehead Golden Yellow. I grow 

 most of my lettuces around the compost piles, 

 where the soil becomes exceedingly rich. 



Salsify, or vegetable oyster, like the onion, may 

 perhaps be better bought than grown, yet I always 



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