VEGETABLES CRESS. 193 



New York, for spring, is about the middle of April ; for 

 fall, about the middle of August. I advocate that seeds 

 of all plants of this description should be sown in rows a 

 foot or so apart, as the seed is small and germinates 

 freely, so that three or four pounds will be enough for an 

 acre. It should be cultivated exactly as Spinach is. 



When Water Cress is found growing naturally, the 

 beds can be made by setting the plants six or twelve inches 

 apart each way. When the cultivation is once fairly be- 

 gun, there is no difficulty about forming new beds, as 

 few plants grow more rapidly when proper conditions are 

 present. 



After the crop is planted or sown, in two months it 

 will have spread all over the beds. The streams being 

 full in autumn, the beds will be fully flooded so as to 

 protect the plants during winter. It is always found 

 growing best wild, in clear, shallow, slowly-running 

 water, with a sandy or gravelly bottom ; and as nature is 

 always the surest guide to successful cultivation, the 

 nearer it can be imitated the better the success. 



I find it is one of. the plants the culture of which is not 

 very easy to give by writing, as so much must be de- 

 termined by the circumstances of locality. Wherever 

 a suitable stream is at command, the experiment of 

 growing Water Cress is worthy of trial, especially when we 

 know that it in many cases pays, for a given area, six or 

 eight times more than any other vegetable cultivated, 

 provided it can be sold in the markets of New York or 

 Philadelphia. 



It is usually sold in baskets containing about three 

 quarts, which sell, when first in market, at fifty cents 

 each ; 200 or 300 such are carried in an ordinary wagon, 

 so that from a single load of this simple vegetable, $100 

 to $200 are realized. The Water Cress has a particularly 

 pleasant pungent taste, agreeable to most people in early 

 spring. 



