VEGETABLES DESCEIPTION AND CULTUEE. 221 



Of these the most in use are Doliclios Sinensis and D. 

 sesqidpedalis, Asparagus of Yard-long beans with edible 

 pods from one to two feet in length, cultivated like pole 

 beans; and D. unguiculatus, under which the cow-peas 

 are included. These have either erect or twining stems, 

 according to the variety, and are mostly grown in the 

 field, either broadcast or between the rows of corn when 

 last worked. None of them are much in use north of 

 Virginia, they being a Southern institution. 



CRESS, AMERICAS'.— {Barbmm vulgaris). 



A biennial Cruciferous plant with yellow flowers, the 

 radical leaves of which are lyre-shaped, and the upper 

 ones pinnatifid, and cultivated in some gardens as a win- 

 ter salad. Often called water-cress at the South. 



Sow either in drills or broadcast in a moist place, the 

 last of August, September, or early in October, giving 

 water in dry, hot weather. Let the plants remain six or 

 eight inches apart. Preserve a few good plants for seed. 



Use. — It is generally liked as a winter or early spring 

 salad, somewhat like the water-cress, but more bitter. 



The Winter Cress, B. prcecox, resembles the foregoing, 

 but is a perennial plant with larger leaves. The use and 

 culture are the same. Less bitter than the former. 



CRESS, GARDES'.— {Lepidium sativum.) 



Cress, or Peppergrass as it is called, from its pungent 

 taste, is a hardy Cruciferous annual, probably from Persia, 

 and has been cultivated in England since 1548. 



There are three sorts, of which the common Curled and 

 the Normandy are the best; the broad-leaved sort is 

 coarse and inferior. 



