5 CO 
SMALL SALADS. 
"We cannot help fancying that objects sucli as 
we see in nature are far better imitated than 
things merely mechanical. Nobody ever saw 
plants growing to cover a round table turned 
sideways ; but ivy may be seen clinging to 
pillars, to ruins, to gate-posts, and the top 
ornaments of columns ; it maybe found grow- 
ing over the arches of doors and windows, up 
the old stumps of trees, and in sundry other 
situations peculiar to ancient out-door struc- 
tures ; and it is upon this principle we gave 
a few sketches before, and add a few others 
now. There is, it is true, a great field open 
for the exercise of taste, for the forms are 
endless. It requires some skill to keep the 
form of the device ; for plants, if allowed to 
ramble, would grow over in a solid mass, and 
the beauty would be lost. "Whether, therefore, 
we look upon these subjects as desirable for 
their general, and natural, and elegant appear- 
ance, or as trying the skill of the gardener, 
they are equally to be recommended, and the 
more the designer exercises his ingenuity the 
better. 
SMALL SALADS. 
CEESS. 
The common small Cress (Lepidium sati- 
vumj is a native of Persia, and is stated to 
have been introduced to this country in 1548. 
"When allowed to grow to its full dimensions 
it is a smooth, glaucous, slender plant, seldom 
much exceeding two feet in height, producing 
great quantities of small white, flowers, which 
are succeeded by small roundish flattened 
seed-vessels, containing two seeds each. Its 
use as a salad is well known, and it is highly 
appreciated for its pleasant biting flavour. 
Besides the common form, two varieties of 
this plant are cultivated. The Curled Cress, 
having leaves very much crisped and curled ; 
and the Broad-leaved Cre.<s, having broader 
and flatter leaves than the common. For use 
in a young state any of the varieties may be 
grown ; but where the true leaves are wanted, 
either as a salad, or for garnishing, the curled 
should be preferred. 
The cultivation of the cress is too simple to 
require many words. "When grown in heat 
it should not be covered with earth, but the 
place where it is sown, whether in boxes, or 
on the earth in the house, should be made 
tolerably firm, the seed sown very thick, and 
a board, or better a fold or two of canvass or 
cloth laid over it, until the seed has fairly 
sprouted, when the covering should be care- 
fully removed. Never allow it to become too 
dry, or the crop will be spoiled, especially in 
heat. "Where a regular supply is required, a 
sufficient sowing should be made every week 
or ten days at the farthest, in heat at first, 
under a warm wall as the spring advances, 
and under a north wall in the summer. 
COLDEN CRESS. 
The Golden Cress was introduced from 
France about 1825, or a little earlier, where it 
was considered as a variety of the common, 
but it differs so much from that in seed and 
habit, that it is most probably a distinct 
species. The leaves are thinner in texture 
than in the others, of a flat oblong shape, and 
of an agreeable delicate yellowish green colour, 
whence its name. It should be sown rather 
thickly in shallow drills, if as early as March, 
in a sheltered spot, and kept clear of weeds 
by hand-weeding, until its leaves are about an 
inch and a half or two inches long, when it is 
fit for use, and may be cut over two or three 
times before it runs to seed. When in flower 
it is about eighteen inches high, and produces 
abundance of seed. It has a very delicatef? 
flavour, and is highly deserving of cultivation.] 
MUSTARD. 
The sort of mustard generally grown for 
cutting young as a small salad, is the white, 
(Sinapis alba, J a wild plant found in corn- 
fields and similar places in various parts of 
England. Its treatment is the same as the 1 
common cress, being cut to mix with tha:l 
when about two inches high, before its rougl: t 
leaves appear, when it becomes unfit for use., ( 
The Cut-leaved Mustard is a variety ii \ 
troduced into France from China a few yea* jl 
ago, and appears worthy of attention. T ( / 
leaves are small and smooth, and cut alinos-, 
the mid-rib. It is of quick growth, and is 
good substitute for cresses when used before 
gets too old ; the true leaves being used, am' 
not the seed leaves, as in the common mustard. 
RAPE. 
The young plants of Rape (Brasska Na- 
pus) are also grown in a similar way, and fo' 
the same purpose as the last. This is also 
British plant, being found in similar situations 
as the last, and the treatmen f is also identical. 
RADISH. 
The seeds of some of the varieties of the 
Radish {Raphanus sativus, a native of China, 
said to have been introduced in 1548) are also 
grown as a small salad, the treatment being 
as for the others, the principal point being to 
sow thick, grow quick, and get the plants about 
two inches high, so as to cut them without 
making them dirty. 
SMALL SALAD LETTUCES. 
The Endive-leaved Lettuce (Lactuca inty- 
bacea) is a species with leaves very like those 
of the Curled Endive, which are lyrate, lobed, 
and sharply toothed, and of a pale green colour. 
It is not so useful a sort as the next, as it runs 
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