THE lamb's lettuce, ETC. 



681 



in order to blanch them. The celeriac has a continual tendency to revert 

 from the knob-rooted form to that which is natural to it ; and hence, like the 

 turnip and similar plants of culture, it will not attain any large size if much 

 earthed up. Still, the celeriac, to be eatable, requires to be blanched, and 

 therefore must be earthed up to a certain extent, but the less the better. — 

 ( G. M. vols. ii. p. 415, and v. p. 364.) The roots of the celeriac may be taken 

 up on the approach of frost, and preserved in sand or soil out of the reach of 

 surface-heat, like potatoes (1416), for an indefinite period. The London 

 market used formerly to be supplied with this root from Hamburgh, 



1521. Diseases^ insects, S^c. — The celery is liable to the canker in some 

 soils, and also to be eaten by the maggot of the celery-fly, Tephritis Ono- 

 pordinis Fab., which is hatched in the leaves, and may be destroyed as soon 

 as these have a blistered appearance, by cutting them, off, and bruising or 

 buj-ning them ; or foetid substances may be frequently sprinkled near the 

 plants, as a preventive. 



1522. To save seed. — Select the finest specimens of the variety to be pro- 

 pagated, in February or JVJarch ; and either remove a part of the soil with 

 which they have been earthed up, and allow^ them to flower where they 

 stand, or transplant them to a more convenient situation. The seed will 

 ripen in September, and will keep ten years. 



1523. The alisanders, or alexanders, Smyrnium Olusatrum L., and S. 

 perfoliatum L. (Maceron, i^?'.),two umbelliferous biennials, the first a native 

 of Britain, and the other of Spain, were formerly cultivated, and the leaf- 

 stalks blanched like those of the celery ; and their leaves w^ere also used as 

 pot-herbs and in salads. The flavour of the leaves being very much like 

 that of celery, they may be useful in spring for putting into soups. 



1524. The Naples parsley, syn. celery parsley (Persil-celeri, Fr.), appears 

 to be a hybrid between the common broad-leaved parsley and the celery. 

 We have never seen it in England ; but about Paris and in Italy it appears 

 to be cultivated and used in the same manner as celery. 



SuBSECT. V. — The Lamb's Lettuce, Burnet, the Garden Cress, Winter Cress, 

 American Cress, and Water Cress. 



1525. The Lamb's lettuce, or corn-salad, Valerianella oiitoria Dec. 

 (Mache, Fr.), is a valerianaceous indigenous annual, very hardy, and 

 which requires no other culture than sowing in August, September, and 

 February, and thinning the plants to three inches apart. The leaves should 

 be gathered singly, like those of spinach, when of fall size ; except when the 

 plant is groT\Ta as small salading, w^hen the leaves and stems may be cut 

 over, as in gathering the common cress or mustard. They are considered as 

 forming, when used raw, a delicate salad ; and when boiled, a good spinach. 



1526. The burnet, Poterium Sanguisorba L., and Sanguisorba officinalis 

 L., are rosaceous perennials, the leaves of which, especially those of the 

 second species, are put into salads, and sometimes into soups ; and so much 

 are they esteemed in Italy, that the Italians have a proverb, quoted by 

 Evelyn, signifying that a salad without burnet is good for nothing. 



1527. The garden cress, Lepidium sativum L. (Cresson Aienois, Fr.), is 

 a cruciferous annual, long in cultivation for its young leaves, which have a 

 peculiarly warm and grateful relish, either alone, or with other salading. 

 There are several varieties ; the best of which are the common Curled-lea ved, 

 the Normandy curled, and the Broad-leaved. The Normandy curled is the 



