CHAPTER XVIII. 
SALAD CROPS. 
ALAD crops are close kin to pot-herbs. 
But a salad is eaten uncooked, while 
pot-herbs are boiled. Some plants are 
used both ways, but they are then classed ac- 
cording to their most general use. Salad crops 
need a cool, moist soil and quick continuous 
growth. As has been frequently said before, 
(but not too frequently,) this can only be obtained 
by having the soil in good condition and plenty 
of plant food in a shape that the crop can eat. 
Salad crops need plenty of water, clean, thor- 
ough culture, and a good deal of prompt at- 
tention, but they mature so rapidly, that the 
demands are not really excessive. Having 
supplied their needs, you must, thereafter, de- 
pend upon the weather to help you perfect your 
crop. If you get dry, tough, wilted salad 
crops, you need not take the trouble to harvest 
them, for nobody wants that sort; and that is 
the only kind you can raise if you neglect them. 
There is no pleasure like the ever-new exulta- 
tion and joy of seeing the things we ourselves 
have planted come up; and these lovely col- 
ored shoots, springing from the brown earth, 
serve to renew our faith in the bounty of Nature 
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