CHAPTER X. 
SHEADINGS. 
“ These five days have I hid me in these woods ; and durst not peep 
out, for all the country is I ay ; cl for me ; but now I am so hungry, that if 
I might have a lease of my life for a thousand years, I could stay no 
longer. Wherefore, on a brick-wall have I climbed into this garden ; to 
see if I can eat grass, or pick a sallet another while, which is not amiss 
to cool a man’s stomach this hot weather. And, I think, this word sallet 
was born to do me good : for, many a time, but for a sallet, my brain- 
pan had been cleft with a brown bill ; and, many a time when I have 
been dry and bravely marching, it hath served me instead of a quart-pot 
to drink in ; and now the word sallet must serve me to feed onA 
2 Henry VI., IV. 10. 
SSS 0 many things are used in salads that we claim the 
right to begin where we please and stop where we 
please in selecting subjects for this chapter. A 
potato, a cauliflower, an egg, a tuft of mint, a stick of 
celery, a pumpkin, a tomato, and a lobster, may all in turn 
be designated “saladingsA So to avoid having to travel 
round the world we shall restrict this chapter to a series of 
notes on the vegetables that take the lead in the preparation 
of salads as commonly understood. 
The Lettuce ( Lactuca viridis ) is the most important of 
all salad plants, and one that may be enjoyed the whole year 
round in plenty with comparatively little labour. Lettuces 
of some kind, moreover, may be grown in any soil with little 
more trouble than once digging and sowing the seed ; but in 
common with most other things, a first-rate sample demands 
something of the cultivator. The close-hearted and delicate- 
flavoured cos varieties require a rich soil to insure a fine 
growth, but the smaller varieties of the cabbage section do 
well on poor soil, endure drought and heat well, and make the 
most acceptable of lettuces for salads. The two points of 
importance in the cultivation are to sow frequently, and never 
to transplant if it can be avoided. 
Summer Lettuces are usually raised from spring-sown 
H 
