574 



HORTICULTURE. 



Celery. 



Qress. 



American 



at most. The necessity of successive crops is therefore 

 evident. In lifting the plants for use, it is proper to 

 dig deep, and to loosen the roots with the spade, so 

 that the entire celery plant may be drawn, without 

 risk of breaking the leaf-stalks or injuring the main 

 roots, the fleshy tender part of which is relished by 

 many. 



380. Celeriac, after being raised in a seed-bed, is 

 planted out on level ground, or in very shallow drills, 

 as it requires but one earthing up, and that a slight 

 one. 



Attentive gardeners generally save celery seed for 

 their own use. All that is necessary, is to select seve- 

 ral strong healthy plants of the winter stock, and plant 

 them out in rich soil early in the spring. When the 

 stems run up to flower, they are apt to be broken by 

 high winds, and should therefore be secured by stakes. 

 The seed is ready in the end of August, and is dried 

 in the usual way. It may be mentioned, that the seed, 

 when bruised, communicates the celery flavour to soups, 

 and may be thus employed when stalks or roots cannot 

 be procured. 



Garden-Cress. 



381. The Garden-cress (Lepidium salivum, L.; Te- 

 tradynamia Siliculosa ; Cruciferce, Juss.) is an annual 

 plant, the native country of which is not known. Be- 

 sides the common or plain sort, which is the kind prin- 

 cipally used for salads, there are two varieties, with 

 curled leaves and with broad leaves. The plant par- 

 takes strongly of the smell and taste which distinguish 

 the Cruciferae. Like mustard, it is very easily raised 

 during winter on a slight hot-bed ; and in the spring 

 months, in close patches, under hand glasses, in the 

 open border, or in drills near a south wall, or in front 

 of a hot-house. It is therefore a favourite article in 

 winter and early spring salads. Where it is wanted 

 through the summer, it must be sown once a fortnight, 

 as it is only fit for use when young and tender. The 

 plain cress is sown thick, and remains so; but the 

 curled and the broad-leaved require to be thinned out 

 to half an inch asunder. The curled variety makes a 

 pretty garnish ; it is rather the hardiest of the kinds, 

 and may therefore be sown late in the season. If a row 

 of cress plants of each of the different sorts be allowed 

 to spring up, plenty of seed will be produced in the 

 autumn. During winter, cresses are often raised on 

 porous earthen- ware vessels, of a pyramidal shape, hav- 

 ing small gutters on the sides, for retaining the seeds. 

 These are called pyramids ; they are somewhat orna- 

 mental, and they afford repeated cuttings. 



American Cress. 



382. The American Cres, (Erysimum prcecox, Smith; 

 Tetradi/namia Siliquosa ; Cruciferce, Juss.), although its 

 name might lead us to expect a transatlantic origin, is 

 a native plant of this country. It was formerly con- 

 sidered as a variety of the common winter-cress, (E. 

 larbnrea) ; it was described as such by Ray and Pe- 

 tiver : Miller made it a distinct species, by the name of 

 E. vernum ; and Sir J. E. Smith has figured and de- 

 scribed it, under the name of E. prtecox, Eng. Bot. t. 

 11 29- It is only biennial; while the common winter- 

 cress :s perennial. It has smaller leaves, more frequent- 

 ly sir.uated ; the pods thicker, and the seeds larger. It 

 is often called Black American eress, and sometimes 

 French cress. 



5 



Kitchen 

 Garden. 



It is either sown at broad-cast, on a small bed of 

 light earth, or thinly in drills a foot asunder. Three or 

 four sowings are usually made, at intervals of about 

 five weeks, from March to July ; and in this way young 

 leaves are always to be had. A late sowing is made in 

 August or September on some sheltered border ; the 

 plants stand the winter without injury, and are fit for 

 use in February and March. The plants being cut over, 

 or the outside leaves gathered, new leaves are produced, 

 fit for use in succession. 



White and Black Mustard. 



Mustard, (Sinapis, L.; Tetradi/namia Siliquosa; Cm- 

 ciferce, Juss.), is of two kinds, white and black. Both 

 are annual plants, and both natives of this country. 



383. White mustard, (S. alba), grows naturally in White wui- 

 our fields, though not so common as some of its con- tard. 

 geners. It is figured in English Botany, t. 1677. It 



is cultivated only as a small salad, and is used while 

 in the seed-leaf, along with cresses. It may be raised 

 at all seasons ; during winter, m boxes in a hot-house 

 or on a hot-bed. When it is wished to save the seeds, 

 a spot of ground somewhat rerriote from other similar 

 plants should be chosen. 



384. The Common or Black mustard, (S. nigra) is a Blac!c mi) - 

 more common native than the white. It is figured in tar<1- 

 English Botany, t. 969- The French call the plant 



smeve, and confine the term moitlarde to prepared table 

 mustard. The tender leaves are sometimes used as 

 greens in the spring, and the seed-leaves occasionally as 

 a salad ingredient ; but the plant is chiefly cultivated 

 for the seed, which, when ground, affords the well 

 known condiment. If the seeds taken fresh from the 

 plant be ground, the powder lias little pungency, but 

 is very bitter ; by steeping in vinegar, however, the es- 

 sential oil is evolved, and the powder becomes extreme- 

 ly pungent. In moistening mustard powder for the 

 table, it may be remarked, that it makes the best ap- 

 pearance when rich milk is used; but this mixture does 

 not keep good for more than two days. The seeds in 

 an entire state, are often used medicinally. 



The black and the white mustard plants may be dis- 

 tinguished by observing, that the black is a larger plant 

 than the white ; that it has much darker leaves than 

 the white, and the divisions of the leaves blunter; the 

 whole upper part of the plant smooth, and the upper 

 narrow leaves hanging downwards ; the flowers small, 

 the pods generally quite smooth, and lying close to the 

 stem ; while, in the white, the flowers are large, the 

 pods rough or hairy, and standing out from the stalk. 

 The names white and black are given in consequence 

 of the colour of the respective seeds. 



Black mustard is principally cultivated in fields; 

 but a small bed of it in the garden is often found con- 

 venient. The plants require considerable space, and 

 repeated hoeings. The seed ripens in August. 



Chervil. 



385. Chervil, (Scandix Cerefoiium, L. ; Pentandria Chervil. 

 Digynia ; Umbclliferce), is an annual plant, a native of 

 various parts of the continent of Europe, and some- 

 times observed naturalized near gardens in England, 



but not admitted into our Flora by Sir J. E. Smith. 

 The leaves are of a very delicate texture, three times 

 divided. The plant rises from a foot to near two feet 

 high, when in flower ; but it is the foliage only when 

 in a young state that is used. It was formerly m\ich 



