CHAPTER VIII. 



GARDEN VEGETABLES. 



CLASSIFICATION OF VEGETABLES. 



Vegetables may be classified in many ways, but perhaps the 

 most helpful way is to divide them according to the conditions 

 under which they grow best into (1) warm and (2) cold climate 

 vegetables: 



(1) Among warm climate vegetables (often called tropical) 

 we have tomato, corn, beans, pepper, egg plant, cucumber, musk 

 melon, watermelon, squash, pumpkin, and okra. These plants all 

 require hot weather for their growth, are severely injured by first 

 hard frost and should not be planted in open ground until warm 

 weather is assured. They are generally at their best on a warm 

 southern exposure and in soil having a little sand in its com- 

 position. These plants are all natives of hot climates and will 

 not survive long in cold climates when left to themselves. 



(2) Among cold climate vegetables, we have practically all 

 those commonly grown not mentioned above (1) such as aspara- 

 gus, rhubarb, horseradish, safsify and parsnip, which stand our 

 severest winters without injury, and those that are less hardy, 

 such as onions, leeks, peas, beets, spinach, cabbage, Brussels 

 sprouts, cauliflower, cress, kale, kohl rabi, radishes, rutabaga, 

 turnip, carrot, parsley, celery, celariac, lettuce, endive, potato, 

 strawberry, tomato, and others. These all grow well at a cool 

 temperature and most of them will stand some frost without 

 injury. They may be divided into those with tops that are frost 

 hardy or frost tender as follows: 



By frost tender is meant those whose tops are injured by 

 a light hard frost such as potato, asparagus, strawberry, tomato, 

 and of course all the tropical plants mentioned above (1). 

 Some plants like asparagus and our native oak tree may have 

 foliage that is very susceptible to frost but are hardy in winter. 



