202 
out of the ground, a small stream 
of water is admitted and the flow 
gradually and cautiously increased. 
At this time the importance of 
proper grading becomes evident, 
for if the trenches are not correctly 
graded the seedlings will be washed 
away from some places and accum- 
ulated in others. If the plants are 
distributed unevenly for this or 
other reasons it is a good plan to 
space them uniformly by trans- 
planting five weeks after sowing. 
Harvesting begins a month later, 
or within ten weeks of sowing, and 
continues throughout the year, ex- 
cept in the very cold weather, when 
the trenches are covered with straw 
to protect the plants from freezing. 
The harvester, wearing knee- 
guards to one of which a bundle of 
split osiers is attached by a strap, 
kneels on a stout plank laid across 
the trench and cuts the stalks, one 
by one, with a knife, following the 
direction of the current of water. 
As he gathers the plants he re- 
moves all dead leaves and forms the cresses into bunches, 
tied with osier, which he throws on the bank beside him. In 
spring a good harvester can gather 120 bunches in an hour, 
but in summer, when it is necessary to remove the flowers, 
he cannot accomplish quite so much, and in winter he is able 
to gather only about sixty bunches per hour. Even in win- 
ter, if the weather permits, the harvesters work from sun- 
rise until three o’clock in the afternoon. In spring each 
trench can be cut once a fortnight, but an interval of twenty- 
five days is necessary in winter. 
The bunches of watercress are carried in wheelbarrows to 
the washing shed, where they are again examined for defect- 
ive leaves, washed in a large tank, and packed in oval bas- 
kets four feet high, each of which holds twenty dozen 
bunches. [Each layer of bunches forms a single ring in con- 
tact with the side of 
the basket, leaving 
an open space in the 
center. Owing to 
this arrangement 
the cresses are not 
deprived of light 
and air during 
transit, and_ they 
reach their destina- 
tion in good condi- 
tion. 
Fertilizers are 
applied to the beds 
after each cutting, 
and the roller is fre- 
quently drawn 
along the trenches 
for the purpose of 
rooting the plants 
in the soft mud. 
For the same pur- 
pose, and also in or- 
der to incorporate 
the fertilizer with 
the mud, the beds 
are beaten, after 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
A small watercress bed 
Washing and packing bunches of watercress 
May, 1909 
cutting and fertilizing, with a plank 
twelve inches wide and more than 
four feet long, attached perpendic- 
ularly to the end of a pole six feet 
in length. One of the photographs 
shows two men walking at the sides 
of the trench and performing this 
operation, which is peculiar to the 
culture of watercress. In winter a 
beater, with a perforated blade par- 
allel to the handle, is used. 
In large watercress farms it is 
customary to reserve the plants in 
one or more of the best trenches for 
seed, which is gathered in the latter 
part of June. Specialists in water- 
cress distinguish two varieties, pale 
and dark green. ‘The pale cress is 
the favorite. It has larger leaves 
than the other variety, but is less 
robust and more easily killed by 
cold. 
At Provins cutting is suspended 
from the middle of May to the 
middle of August. During the 
nine months of harvest a trench 
230 feet long, seeded annually, 
yields about 12,000 bunches. 
Watercress can be raised on a small scale, for family use, 
without this elaborate system of trenches and without hay- 
ing a brook or an artesian well. It is merely necessary to dig 
a shallow pit in a well-shaded spot or on the north side of a 
hill, and to fill it with water. It is advisable, but not abso- 
lutely necessary, to cover the water with osier mats or wood 
netting. Cuttings of watercress are then strewn over the 
surface of the water. They soon take root and grow, and 
in three weeks the cress is ready for use. It is not necessary 
to provide a continual supply of fresh water, but the pit 
must be kept full of water and fertilizers should be strewn 
over it every three weeks. In this way an ample supply of 
watercress for a family can be obtained almost without ex- 
pense. 
In cutting it is advisable to select the tallest plants, 
or some of those 
that are most 
crowded, thus ad- 
mitting light and air 
to those which are 
ents 
Another _ simple 
method of culture is 
recommended by 
Vilmorin- Andriaux. 
A trench ten inches 
deep, three eirevemn 
wide, and of any 
length is excavated, 
preferably on the 
northern slope of a 
hill. The bottom 
of the trenehgs 
hardened by tread- 
ing, and covered 
with a layer of rich 
soil mixed with leaf 
mold or compost. 
which is gently 
pressed into a con- 
cave form. The bed 
is watered copi- 
