616 



CATALOGUE OF CULINARY VEGETABLES. 



trees cannot be effectually prevented or cured by judicious culture, but most 

 of them may ; and all insects which, live on the surface of trees, may be 

 destroyed or subdued by abundant washings with clear water by the syringe 

 or engine. All fruit-bearing plants (and indeed all others), grown in pots, 

 ought to be potted in soil which has not been sifted, and which, if not suffi- 

 ciently coarse to keep it so open as to receive water freely, should be mixed 

 with fragments of wood, bones, and stone, for that purpose, for supplying 

 manure, and for retaining moisture (749). 



Most of the foregoing remarks were made when treating of particular 

 trees, but we have thought it might be useful to the amateur and the young 

 gardener here to recapitulate them. 



CHAPTER V. 



CATALOGUE OF CULINARY VEGETABLES. 



1364. The culinai'y vegetables usually cultivated in British gardens are 

 herbaceous plants, annuals, biennials, and perennials, with one or two suf- 

 fruticose or shrubby plants. W e shall first arrange them systematically, 

 and next class them jointly according to^their culture in the garden, and 

 their uses in the kitchen. In the following arrangement, the names, which 

 are in italics, indicate kinds which are not at all, or not much in cultivation 

 at present, but which, for the greater part, have formerly been in use in 

 England, and still continue to be so on the Continent, or in some other part 

 of the world. 



Ranunculdcece. Nigella sativa i., the fennel-flower, formerly cultivated 

 for its seeds as a substitute for pepper, and still grown for that purpose in 

 France. There are very few plants in this order that are not poisonous. 



Cruciferce. Nasturtium R. Br.^ the water cress ; Barbarea R. Br.^ the 

 winter cress, and the American cress ; Carddmine L., the meadow cress ; 

 Peltdria L., the garlic cress ; Cochlearia Tow., the horse-radish, and the 

 scurvy cress ; Thldspi Dec, the penny cress and garlic cress ; Sisymbrium 

 L., the hedge cress ; Allidria Adan., the garlic cress ; Camelma barbarecB- 

 folia Dec, the perennial cress ; Senebiera, Poir., the wart cress ; Lepi- 

 dium the common cress ; Brassica i., the cabbage, borecole, savoy, 

 turnip, &c ; Sinapis Tom., the mustard ; Moricdndia Dec, the cabbage 

 mustard ; Eruca Tou., the rocket cress ; Crambe Tom., the seakale ; 

 Raphanus jL., the radish ; Erucdria Gser., the Spanish mustard. The 

 general properties of this order are, anti- scorbutic, stimulant and acrid, and 

 there is scarcely any of the species the foliage of which may not be eaten ; 

 the seeds of all of them yield oil by expression. 



CappariddcecB. Cdpparis Z/., the caper. 



Caryophyllece. Alsme L., the chickweed, which in spring may be used as 

 greens. 



Malvdcece. Hibiscus esculentus Z/., the okro. 



TropcEolece. Tropseolum i., the Indian cress, and the Tropaeolum tuber. 

 The plants of this order have the same properties as the CruciferaB. 



Oxaliddcece. 6ocalis Z., the wood-sorrel, and Oxalis Deppei, B. C. 



