106 
SALAD PLANTS 
Everyone should enjoy the pleasure of a salad several days a week, at all events during the summer season, 
with but trifling expense. It is a wholesome addition to more substantial diet, rendering it grateful to the palate, 
and it is a pity that it is so rarely brought to table in an average household. We will enumerate a few of the 
almost unknown salad plants, with some notes on their cultivation. 
American Land Cress may be sown at any time 
during spring and summer out of doors. It is a useful variety, 
tasting something like watercress. 
Price 6d. per packet. 
Beet . — See pages 6 to 8. 
Celeriac, Carters Improved (or turnip-rooted 
Celery). — Pure white root, refined flavour. It is becoming 
popular in this country, owing to the more frequent contact 
nowadays of the English people with continental dishes. Seeds 
should be sown in pans in March, and the plants set out in 
shallow trenches to mature. 
Trice 6d. and is. per packet. 
Chervil is used for seasoning soups and mixing in salads. 
It is grown from seed sown in spring and in summer for 
successional crops. The soil should be rich and light, and the 
bed 4J feet wide, with an alley on each side. Sow seed in 
shallow drills across the bed, 9 inches apart, and rake over 
the surface. When the leaves have grown an inch or two, cut 
off for use as required. 
Price 6d. per packet. 
Chicory. — The majority of people know Chicory as an 
adulterant of Coffee, but few are aware of the part it plays in 
the salad bowl, to which it adds a pleasing flavour. Chicory 
is so easily grown and so useful, that it should receive more 
attention from amateurs who desire to grow salads. This plant 
is sown in late spring in the open ground, and thinned out 
to about a foot apart to grow through the summer, well watered 
in dry weather. With the change to a colder season, the leaves 
decay and nearly all drop off. The roots are then lifted, and 
a few at a time placed in boxes of rich sandy soil, leaving 
crown well above the surface. After a good watering these 
boxes are stood in a perfectly dark place, and in a few weeks, 
according to the heat, some nicely blanched leaves will be fit 
to gather. More roots, kept in a cool place until wanted for 
bringing along in heat, may be similarly treated. 
Price 6d. per packet. 
Whitlcef is a distinct variety of Chicory, largely grown in 
the suburbs of Brussels, and chiefly noted for the quality of its 
leaves. 
Price 6d. per packet. 
Chives is a hardy perennial found in rocky pastures. It is 
grown in gardens for its leaves, as a substitute for early onions. 
Propagate by dividing the roots into clumps in spring and 
autumn and plant from 8 to 12 inches apart. In order that the 
leaves be tender and succulent they should be often cut. 
Plants price 6d. each. 
Clary, used for flavouring soups. 
Price 6d. per packet. 
Corn Salad or Lambs’ Lettuce.— This is a 
hardy annual, and in great demand as a salad plant on the 
Continent. In France it is preferred, admired, and relished in 
winter and spring instead of Lettuce, but it is not nearly so 
highly appreciated in Britain as it deserves. But when Endive 
is scarce Corn Salad is of great service, and for early use should 
be sown in frames or in boxes and placed in slight heat. For 
summer use it may go on the border or in lines in a sunny spot, 
amongst the ordinary low-growing vegetables. 
Price 6d. per packet. 
Cress. — See page 43. 
Cucumber.-^ pages 44 to 46. 
Dandelion. — The common Dandelion is a useful salad 
plant, especially when Endive and Lettuce are scarce in winter. 
The roots arc grown in a similar manner to Chicory, and large 
quantities of the blanched leaves are sold in the markets for 
this esculent. Price 6d. per packet. 
Endive.— See page 50. 
Lettuce. — See pages 54 to 58. 
Mustard. — See page. 43. 
Nasturtium, of which the green seeds make a delightful 
salad. This plant is both a dwarf and a climber, and very 
ornamental as well as useful. The flowers are often used in 
salads, occasionally for decorating, and the leaves and young 
green plants are frequently pickled. 
Price 3d. and 6tl. per packet. 
Purslain is a succulent plant and raised from seed, which 
may be sown in light garden soil in March on a warm sheltered 
border in a bed, and attended to in the same way as for Chervil. 
Price 6d, per packet. 
Radish. — See pages 102 to 105. 
Rampion.-A plant producing a spindle-shaped root of 
light colour and of agreeable flavour. It may be raised from 
seed if sown in a bed in an open warm aspect, and in soil of a 
rich compost, of a light open texture. Water well in dry 
weather. Should the season prove mild, the plants will be 
ready for use in November. 
Price 6d. per packet. 
Shallots. — The Shallot is much in favour as a relish for 
soups and for pickling. Offsets are often planted in the 
autumn, but the main crop is usually got in early in the year. 
The bulbs may be planted at any suitable time during this 
period, 12 inches between each row, and 6 inches from set 
to set. The bulbs should be firmly pressed in just beneath the 
surface of the soil, and here they remain. As the growth 
matures in spring, gently draw away the soil round the bulbs 
when they have become established, and if they look sickly, 
apply soot to the surface soil for maggots, and use the hoe for 
weeds. Lift, dry, and store crop as soon as ready, probably 
the end of June. For exhibition, twenty-five cloves or bulbs 
should be placed on a large plate, and see that they are firm, 
of medium size, ripe, of good colour, and nice small necks. 
There are two types, the Mammoth and the ordinary Shallot. 
Shallot Seed. Jersey Red Skinned. 
Price 6d. and is. per packet. 
For price of bulbs , see page 49. 
Tomato. — See pages 108 to 1 1 1. 
Watercress. — Watercress may l)e successfully grown 
from seed if sown in a shaded border and kept well watered 
when started. 
Price 6d. per packet. 
S 
ifoAteJid Seedsmen by appointment to His Majesty the King— High Hoi born, London . 
