KITCHEN-GARDEN VEGETABLES. 
marked, make excellent garden-manure. From 
the mass of plants thus taken out, the youngest 
and those with most roots are selected; these 
are placed on the gravel in rows, at the requisite 
distances, with a stone on each plant to keep it 
in its place. 
The Cress will not grow freely in a muddy 
bottom, nor will it taste well when there is mud 
about the roots, which should be carefully re- 
moved and replaced by gravel or chalk. It is 
absolutely necessary to have a constant, current, 
as, when there is any obstruction to the stream 
or flow of water, the plants cease to thrive. The 
times of renewing the beds are May and June, 
and from September to November. The plant- 
ing is done in succession, so that the crops may 
come regularly into cutting. Those planted in 
May are fit to cut in August, and those planted 
in November are ready to gather in the 
spring. 
After the plants have been cut about three 
times they begin to stock, and then the oftener 
they are cut the better. In summer it is neces- 
sary to keep them very closely cut; and in 
water of a proper depth, and with a good soil, 
each bed supplies a gathering once a week. In 
winter the water should be rather deeper than 
in summer (4 or 5 inches); to obtain this the 
plants are left with more head, that the water 
may thus be impeded. 
It is essential that the plantations should be 
made in fresh or newly risen spring-water, as 
- the plants not only thrive better in it, but, 
in consequence of its being rarely frozen, they 
generally continue in vegetation, and in a 
good state for gathering, throughout the winter 
season. 
Water-cress may also be grown in a shady 
border of rich soil, covered with a thin layer of 
sand to keep the leaves clean, and kept constantly 
moist by frequent waterings; but in this way 
the produce is inferior in quality to that obtained 
from plants grown in water. It may be also 
grown in tubs, boxes, and pans partially filled. 
with soil, which is covered with water. The 
water should be frequently drained off and re- 
placed by fresh. 
The cocoons of the Water-cress Fly (Tipula 
reptans), as well as the eggs and larve of various 
other insects, are found on the Water-cress, and 
sometimes cause much inconvenience when 
eaten; the leaves should therefore be thoroughly 
cleaned previous to use. The most effectual 
mode of doing so consists in steeping the Cress 
for some minutes in salt water, and then wash- 
ing well with fresh. 
Cucumber. See special chapter, p. 
Dandelion (Varazacum Dens Leonis).—This 
well-known plant, which medicinally is of some 
importance as an anodyne, aperient, and diuretic, 
is occasionally blanched and eaten as a salad, 
both in this country and in France; and as such 
it is much esteemed by many persons in both 
countries. 
It should be sown in spring, in a rather moist 
soil, previously well dug; or roots may be 
planted. In the following spring, as soon as 
the plants begin to push above ground, they 
may be covered with a layer of sand 3 or 4 
inches in thickness, or flower-pots may be placed 
over them; but blanching by means of sand is 
preferable. When the leaves begin to make 
their appearance above the sand a portion of the 
plants may be cut over by the ground, and by 
casting the sand which covered them over the 
uncut portion, the latter will be covered to a 
greater depth at each cutting, and will conse- 
quently come in for use in succession. It is 
hardly necessary to observe that the plants 
should not be allowed to scatter their seeds in 
summer. 
Egg-plants or Aubergines (Solanum Melon- 
gena) (see Plate).—An annual, cultivated in the 
warmer regions of the globe before the Middle 
Ages, but supposed to have had its origin in 
India or Arabia. Modern travellers have found 
it cultivated in the Nile Valley and on the coast 
of Guinea. The fruits are highly esteemed in 
many countries, but they have only recently 
found favour in the British Islands for table use. 
They are eaten either raw or cooked, in the 
same way as Tomatoes. There are many varieties, 
their colour ranging from white to black-purple, 
whilst in shape and size they also vary consider- 
ably, the largest being from 6 to 8 inches long, 
and 2 to 3 inches in diameter. One called 
ovigerum has fruits exactly the same shape and 
colour as a hen’s egg; it is often grown in Eng- 
land as a decorative plant; its fruits are not fit 
to eat. 
In Provence the fruit is cut longitudinally in 
two, and the seeds and spongy substance sur- 
rounding them are taken out. The two halves 
are then placed on the gridiron, with the cut 
faces upwards, and whilst roasting the flesh is 
soaked with fine salad oil or fresh butter, applied 
a little at a time, a sufficiency of pepper and 
salt being added. Some augment the flavour 
with Parsley, Anise, or other aromatic herbs; 
| others place an anchovy or a pilchard between 
