352 The Principles of Vegetable- Gardening 



leaved mustard are amongst the best of all pot-herb 

 plants. In midsummer the plants run to seed. The 

 seeds are sown very early in spring, and the tender 

 bunch of foliage is ready for use in May or June. In 

 fact, even in the northern states, on sandy warm soil 

 the seeds may be sown in the fall and the plants will 

 be ready for use in early spring, although the seeds 

 may not germinate in the fall. Care should be exer- 

 cised not to let the plants seed themselves too freely, 

 as they are likely to escape into unoccupied areas and 

 become weedy. In the South, the Southern Giant- 

 Curled Mustard is much used, largely taking the place 

 of both spinach and lettuce. The Chinese Broad -Leaved 

 is a most robust plant, and gives a large amount of 

 herbage. The mustards represent several species of 

 Brassica. 



Chinese cabbage, or Pe-tsai, resembles a large and 

 dense -headed lettuce plant rather than a cabbage. It 

 is really a mustard. It is one of the best and most 

 delicate -flavored of all the pot-herb plants. It is little 

 known in this country, and people usually make the 

 mistake of treating it like an ordinary cabbage. It is 

 a cool -season succession -plant, and runs to seed with- 

 out making much foliage if sown late in the season. 

 It should be sown very early in the spring, like mustard. 

 It may also be grown as a fall crop by sowing the seeds 

 late in the summer, or early in the fall in the more 

 southern parts. When well grown, the plant makes a 

 thick, oblong head, resembling a Cos lettuce, and the 

 broad white midribs and tender leaf-blades make it a 

 very acceptable product. 



