CHAPTER XX 
THE CLASSIFICATION OF VEGETABLES 
260. Methods of classification. — The grouping of vege- 
tables gives the student a better understanding of the 
character, requirements and uses of the various crops. 
The arrangement based solely upon botanical relation- 
ship is the most exact system, but in many cases is of 
little advantage in helping to determine the best cultural 
conditions for each crop. The uses of the plants also con- 
stitute an important basis for classification. All vege- 
tables may be placed in two general groups in respect to 
their hardiness, viz., (1) “tender” plants, or those which 
are injured or killed by frost, and which require, high 
temperatures for successful growth, as tomato, pepper, 
eggplant, bean, melons, squash, cucumber, sweet corn 
and sweet potato; (2) “hardy” plants, or those which 
are not injured by frost, many of them in fact bearing 
severe freezing and thriving at temperatures too low for 
“tender” plants. The “hardy” crops include pea, cab- 
bage, kale, spinach, asparagus, rhubarb, celery, lettuce, 
cress, radish and many other plants. The line, however, 
between “tender” and “hardy” plants is largely arbi- 
trary. Celery, for example, is properly classed with 
hardy plants, while comparatively light frost or low tem- 
peratures may check the growth of young plants and 
cause them to produce seed shoots. The onion is also 
regarded as a hardy plant, while seedlings of certain 
varieties are injured by light frosts. 
The best system of classification has been devised by 
Prof. L. H. Bailey (“The Principles of Vegetable Gar- 
dening,” pp. 240-242), and is followed in this chapter. It 
is based primarily upon methods of culture, although 
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