WATERCRESS — SKIRRET. 



261 



doses of mustard seed swallowed whole in water are often 

 useful in dyspepsia. Mustard seed is also a local excitant 

 aj)plied to the skin in a cataplasm, made of the ground 

 meal with vinegar or lukewarm water ; if mixed with 

 boiling water the acrid principle will not be developed. 



Sisymhrium Nasturtium — Water-cress. 

 This is a perennial English plant, growing in running 

 streams. There is but one variety in use. I give its cul- 

 ture that it may be tried in some of our clear up-country 

 streams. 



The Water-cress likes a clear, cool, running stream, 

 fresh issuing from a spring, the nearer its source the 

 better, with the water about an inch and a half deep, with 

 a sandy or gravelly bottom. They must of course at first 

 be raised from seed which ©an be sprinkled at the source 

 of some gravelly stream. If once established they will 

 soon propagate from self-sown seed. If the stems get 

 choked with mud and weeds, they must be taken up and 

 the beds cleared and replanted. The shoots ought always 

 to be cut, as breaking injures the plants. 



Use. — Water-cresses are generally liked for their warm 

 pungent taste, and are used alone or in mixed salads. 

 They are an excellent antiscorbutic and purifier of the 

 blood and a great favorite wherever known. 



Slum Sisarum — Skirret. 

 Skirret is a perennial umbelliferous plant from China, 

 and known in Europe since 1548. It grows a foot high 

 with pinnate lower leaves. The root is composed of 

 several fleshy tubers, the size of the little finger, joined at 

 the crown. 



Culture. — Skirret likes a light, rich, rather moist soil, 

 with the manure applied at the bottom. It will not do 



