168 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



state, it should be sown thick ; and, to prevent 

 the earthy particles mixing with the leaves, it 

 should never, if possible, be covered. Cotyle- 

 dons, or seed-lobes, are appendages of the em- 

 bryo, enclosing or accompanying the tender 

 plantlet, and containing its first nutriment. 

 Upon the principle of the presence or absence 

 of cotyledons we have the grand and primary 

 division of plants that are cotyledonous on the 

 one hand, and plants that are acotyledonous on 

 the other; as well as the subordinate divisions 

 of monocotyledonous, dicotyledonous, and poly- 

 cotyledonous plants also. These distinctions 

 are deemed to be the true key to a natural sys- 

 tem, and form the basis of the arrangements of 

 Jussieu. The two first lobe-looking appendages, 

 vulgarly called seed-leaves, as shown in this 

 plant, exemplify the cotyledon. The London 

 market-garden method is to sow the seed thickly 

 on the surface of old tan made smooth and level, 

 and laid over the floors of their vineries ; for 

 to such an extent is this branch of culture car- 

 ried for the supply of the metropolitan demand, 

 that one grower alone, Mr Chapman of Vaux- 

 hall, sows a whole house every other day. The 

 tan is well wetted previous to sowing the seed, 

 and no covering whatever is put on the seed 

 beyond a damp mat, which is laid over to keep 

 in the moisture. They vegetate according to 

 the degree of temperature kept up, which should, 

 however, not exceed 60° or 65°. When the 

 plants are about 2 inches high, the mats are 

 removed during the day to admit light to give 

 the necessary green colour to the young leaves, 

 but are put on again at night to hasten the 

 growth; for, as with all salads, the quicker the 

 growth the better and more tender the pro- 

 duce. The crop is cut when from 4 to 5 inches 

 in height, and each handful, as it is cut, is put 

 into a clean punnet-basket, and is fit for use. 

 If thus grown, no washing is required, excepting 

 a slight rinse shortly before using. Steeping 

 such salads in water, to rid them of sand and 

 dust, destroys the flavour, and renders them 

 flaccid and tough. They should be cut as soon 

 previous to use as possible. The above may be 

 called the winter culture upon a large scale. 

 For private use, shallow boxes or pans are used, 

 and these are placed in any spare corner of hot- 

 houses or pits, where the necessary temperature 

 is kept up. The boxes should be 4 inches 

 deep, and of a length and breadth suitable to 

 the accommodation ; and sowings should take 

 place every third or fourth day, and the crop 

 placed as near the glass as convenient, on 

 suspended shelves or otherwise. 



Summer culture must be conducted on the 

 same principle, in spring and autumn covering 

 the crop with hand-glasses ; and, during the heat 

 of summer, sowing on cool borders behind a wall. 



To save seed — a process scarcely worth the 

 attention of the private grower, on account of 

 its cheapness — a crop may be sown thin in an 

 open part of the garden in March or April. The 

 seed will ripen in August, and, when thoroughly 

 dried, may be thrashed out for storing by. The 

 European names are — Moutarde in French ; 

 Mostazo in Spanish; Senapa in Italian; Senf in 

 German ; and Mosterd in Dutch. ; 



Black mustard (Sinapis nigra L.) belongs 

 to the same class and order as the last, and is, 

 like it, a native of Britain, and found in similar 

 situations ; it is also a native of Italy. It is no 

 doubt the mustard of the ancients, although 

 there are great doubts of its being the mustard 

 of Scripture, whose seed is referred to by our 

 Saviour. It is by some cultivated as a salad 

 plant, the same as the last, but the tender leaves 

 are oftener used during spring as a substitute for, 

 or as an addition to, spring greens. The uses of 

 its seeds for medicinal and domestic purposes 

 are well known. The ancients ate the young 

 plants stewed, and the leaves of the older plants 

 were boiled like other pot-herbs. The young 

 leaves of both this and the white mustard are 

 usually mixed with those of cress in salads. 

 When grown as a spring green, the seed is sown 

 in autumn, and the plants are thinned out to a 

 foot or 18 inches each way. Like all oleiferous 

 seeds, they greatly exhaust the ground, and re- 

 tain their vegetative properties for an unknown 

 length of time ; so that, where it has once been 

 grown, and the seed allowed to drop and become 

 buried, they will come up for a century or more 

 afterwards. This is the reason why charlock 

 (Sinapis arvensis) is so difficult to eradicate out 

 of land it has once been allowed to seed on. 

 The black mustard has been recommended to be 

 sown on soil infested with wireworm, the roots 

 being so acrid that the larvae will not eat it, and 

 hence perish from hunger. The European 

 names are the same as for white mustard. 



§ 8. — CRESSES. 



Garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) belongs 

 to the same class and orders as the last. The 

 generic name is derived from Lepis, a scale, 

 from the scaly form of its silicles, or parts of 

 the pods to which the seed is attached. Its 

 native country is unknown. Introduced to 

 England before 1548. 



Of the same use as the white mustard (which 

 see). Of the white mustard there is only one 

 variety — of the garden cress there are several, 

 all, however, used for the same purposes ; but, 

 being somewhat different in their cultivation, 

 we shall notice them under the next head, viz. — 



The common garden or plain-leaved cress, and 

 the curled-leaved, are the two sorts most gene- 

 rally cultivated, and in this respect they differ 

 not from that of the white mustard already de- 

 tailed. In respect to merits, the foi'mer is the 

 most delicate, as it is used younger ; but the 

 latter is preferable, particularly for garnishing. 



Golden cress. — A variety of slower growth, 

 and of a yellowish-green colour. Seldom grown. 



Broad-leaved cress. — A coarser variety, with 

 broad spatulate leaves, seldom forced, but 

 usually grown for mixing along with rue, leek- 

 tops, nettle-tops, and overgrown mustard, in 

 rearing young turkeys and other poultry. For 

 soups it answers very well. 



Normandy curled cress. — A very valuable 

 variety, by far too little cultivated. It was 

 introduced to England about 1814, and in vol. 

 vii., p. 38, of the " Gardeners' Magazine," we 

 brought it before the notice of the public. Our 



