THE FIELD AND GARDEN VEGETABLES OF AMERICA TEXT

the recent additions to our list of esculent plants, "we have not one so wholesome, so easy of cultivation, or one that would add so much to the sanitary condition of the community, particularly of that class who live much upon salt provisions." The species and varieties are as follow:-- ALPINE SORREL. Oseille des Neiges. _Vil._ Rumex nivalis. A new, perennial species, found upon the Alps, near the line of perpetual snow. The root-leaves are somewhat heart-shaped, thick, and fleshy; stem simple, with verticillate branches; flower dioecious. It is one of the earliest as well as the hardiest of the species, propagates more readily than Alpine plants in general, and is said to compare favorably in quality with the Mountain Sorrel or Patience Dock. COMMON SORREL. R. acetosa. This is a hardy perennial, and, when fully grown, is about two feet in height. The flowers--which are small, very numerous, and of a reddish color--are dioecious, the fertile and barren blossoms being produced on separate plants; the seeds are small, triangular, smooth, of a brownish color, and retain their germinative properties two years. An ounce contains nearly thirty thousand seeds. Of the Common Sorrel, there are five varieties, as follow:-- BELLEVILLE SORREL. Broad-leaved. Oseille Large de Belleville. _Vil._ Leaves ten or twelve inches long by six inches in diameter; leaf-stems red at the base. Compared with the Common Garden Sorrel, the leaves are larger and less acid. The variety is considered much superior to the last-named sort, and is the kind usually grown by market-gardeners in the vicinity of Paris. It should be planted in rows eighteen inches apart, and the plants thinned to a foot apart in the rows. BLISTERED-LEAF SORREL. _Trans._ Radical leaves nine inches long, four inches wide, oval-hastate or halberd-shaped, growing on long footstalks. The upper leaves are more blistered than those attached to the root; the flower-stems are short. The principal difference between this variety and the Common, or Broad-leaved, consists in its blistered foliage. It is slow in the development of its flower-stem, and consequently remains longer in season for use. The leaves are only slightly acid in comparison with those of the Common Sorrel. It is a perennial, and must be increased by a division of its roots; for being only a variety, and not permanently established, seedlings from it frequently return to the Belleville, from whence it sprung. FERVENT'S NEW LARGE SORREL. Oseille de Fervent. _Vil._ An excellent sort, with large, yellowish-green, blistered leaves and red leaf-stems. It is comparatively hardy, puts forth its leaves early, and produces abundantly. The rows should be eighteen inches apart. GREEN OR COMMON GARDEN SORREL. Root-leaves large, halberd-shaped, and supported on stems six inches in length. The upper leaves are small, narrow, sessile, and clasping. A hardy sort; but, on account of its greater acidity, not so highly esteemed as the Belleville. Sow in rows fifteen inches apart, and thin to eight or ten inches in the rows. SARCELLE BLOND SORREL. Blond de Sarcelle. _Vil._ This is a sub-variety of the Belleville, with longer and narrower leaves and paler leaf-stems. It puts forth its leaves earlier in the season than the Common Sorrel, and is of excellent quality. The seed rarely produces the variety in its purity, and it is generally propagated by dividing the roots. ROUND-LEAVED ON FRENCH SORREL. _Thomp._ Roman Sorrel. Oseille rond. _Vil._ R. scutatus. This is a hardy perennial, a native of France and Switzerland. Its stem is trailing, and from twelve to eighteen inches in height or length; the leaves vary in form, but are usually roundish-heart-shaped or halberd-shaped, smooth, glaucous, and entire on the borders; the flowers are hermaphrodite, yellowish; the leaves are more acid than those of the varieties of the preceding species, and for this reason are preferred by many. The variety is hardy and productive, but not much cultivated. It requires eighteen inches' space between the rows, and a foot in the rows. There is but one variety. MOUNTAIN SORREL. Oseille verge. _Vil._ R. montanus. The leaves of this variety are large, oblong, of thin texture, and of a pale-green color; the root-leaves are numerous, about nine inches long and four inches wide, slightly blistered. It is later than the Common Garden Sorrel in running to flower; and is generally propagated by dividing the roots, but may also be raised from seeds. The leaves are remarkable for their acidity. This is the _Rumex montanus_ of modern botanists, though formerly considered as a variety of _R. acetosa_. BLISTERED-LEAVED MOUNTAIN SORREL. This variety is distinguished from the Green Mountain Sorrel by its larger, more blistered, and thinner leaves. The leaf-stems are also longer, and, as well as the nerves and the under surface of the leaf, finely spotted with red. It starts early in spring, and is slow in running up to flower. GREEN MOUNTAIN SORREL. This is an improved variety of the Mountain Sorrel, and preferable to any other, from the greater size and abundance of its leaves, which possess much acidity. It is also late in running to flower. The leaves are large, numerous, ovate-sagittate, from ten to eleven inches long, and nearly five inches in width; the radical leaves are slightly blistered, and of a dark, shining green color. It can only be propagated by dividing the roots. The plants require a space of eighteen inches between the rows, and a foot from plant to plant in the rows. * * * * * SPINACH. Spinacia oleracea. Spinach is a hardy annual, of Asiatic origin. When in flower, the plant is from two to three feet in height; the stem is erect, furrowed, hollow, and branching; the leaves are smooth, succulent, and oval-oblong or halberd-shaped,--the form varying in the different varieties. The fertile and barren flowers are produced on separate plants,--the former in groups, close to the stalk at every joint; the latter in long, terminal bunches, or clusters. The seeds vary in a remarkable degree in their form and general appearance; those of some of the kinds being round and smooth, while others are angular and prickly: they retain their vitality five years. An ounce contains nearly twenty-four hundred of the prickly seeds, and about twenty-seven hundred of the round or smooth. _Soil and Cultivation._--Spinach is best developed, and most tender and succulent, when grown in rich soil. For the winter sorts, the soil can hardly be made too rich. It is always raised from seeds, which are sown in drills twelve or fourteen inches apart, and three-fourths of an inch in depth. The seeds are sometimes sown broadcast; but the drill method is preferable, not only because the crop can be cultivated with greater facility, but the produce is more conveniently gathered. For a succession, a few seeds of the summer varieties may be sown, at intervals of a fortnight, from April till August. _Taking the Crop._--"When the leaves are two or three inches broad, they will be fit for gathering. This is done either by cutting them up with a knife wholly to the bottom, drawing and clearing them out by the root, or only cropping the large outer leaves; the root and heart remaining to shoot out again. Either method can be adopted, according to the season or other circumstances."--_Rogers._ _To raise Seed._--Spinach seeds abundantly; and a few of the fertile plants, with one or two of the infertile, will yield all that will be required for a garden of ordinary size. Seeds of the winter sorts should be saved from autumn sowings, and from plants that have survived the winter. _Use._--The leaves and young stems are the only parts of the plant used. They are often boiled and served alone; and sometimes, with the addition of sorrel-leaves, are used in soups, and eaten with almost every description of meat. "The expressed juice is often employed by cooks and confectioners for giving a green color to made dishes. When eaten freely, it is mildly laxative, diuretic, and cooling. Of itself, it affords little nourishment. It should be boiled without the addition of water, beyond what hangs to the leaves in rinsing them; and, when cooked, the moisture which naturally comes from the leaves should be pressed out before being sent to the table. The young leaves were at one period used as a salad."--_M'Int._ _Varieties._-- FLANDERS SPINACH. _Trans._ This is a winter Spinach, and is considered superior to the Prickly or Common Winter Spinach, which is in general cultivation during the winter season in our gardens. It is equally hardy, perhaps hardier. The leaves are doubly hastate or halberd shaped, and somewhat wrinkled: the lower ones measure from twelve to fourteen inches in length, and from six to eight in breadth. They are not only larger, but thicker and more succulent, than those of the Prickly Spinach. The whole plant grows more bushy, and produces a greater number of leaves from each root; and it is sometimes later in running to seed. The seeds are like those of the Round or Summer Spinach, but larger: they are destitute of the prickles which distinguish the seeds of the Common Winter Spinach. For winter use, sow at the time directed for sowing the Large Prickly-seeded, but allow more space between the rows than for that variety; subsequent culture, and treatment during the winter, the same as the Prickly-seeded. LARGE PRICKLY-SEEDED SPINACH. Large Winter Spinach. Epinard d'Angleterre. _Vil._ Leaves comparatively large, rounded at the ends, thick and succulent. In foliage and general character, it is similar to some of the round-seeded varieties; but is much hardier, and slower in running to seed. It is commonly known as "Winter Spinach," and principally cultivated for use during this portion of the year. The seeds are planted towards the last of August, in drills a foot apart, and nearly an inch in depth. When well up, the plants should be thinned to four or five inches apart in the drills; and, if the weather is favorable, they will be stocky and vigorous at the approach of severe weather. Before the closing-up of the ground, lay strips of joist or other like material between the rows, cover all over with clean straw, and keep the bed thus protected until the approach of spring or the crop has been gathered for use. LETTUCE-LEAVED SPINACH. Epinard à Feuille de Laitue. _Vil._ Epinard Gaudry. Leaves very large, on short stems, rounded, deep-green, with a bluish tinge, less erect than those of the other varieties, often blistered on the surface, and of thick substance. It is neither so early nor so hardy as some others; but it is slow in the development of its flower-stalk, and there are few kinds more productive or of better quality. The seeds are round and smooth. For a succession, a sowing should be made at intervals of two weeks. "A variety called 'Gaudry,' if not identical, is very similar to this." SORREL-LEAVED SPINACH. Leaves of medium size, halberd-formed, deep-green, thick, and fleshy. A hardy and productive sort, similar to the Yellow or White Sorrel-leaved, but differing in the deeper color of its stalks and leaves. SUMMER OR ROUND-LEAVED SPINACH. Round Dutch. Epinard de Hollande. _Vil._ Leaves large, thick, and fleshy, rounded at the ends, and entire, or nearly entire, on the borders. This variety is generally grown for summer use; but it soon runs to seed, particularly in warm and dry weather. Where a constant supply is required, a sowing should be made every fortnight, commencing as early in spring as the frost leaves the ground. The seeds are round and smooth. Plants from the first sowing will be ready for use the last of May or early in June. In Belgium and Germany, a sub-variety is cultivated, with smaller and deeper-colored foliage, and which is slower in running to flower. It is not, however, considered preferable to the Common Summer or Round-leaved. WINTER OR COMMON PRICKLY SPINACH. Epinard ordinaire. _Vil._ Leaves seven or eight inches long, halberd-shaped, deep-green, thin in texture, and nearly erect on the stalk of the plant; seeds prickly. From this variety most of the improved kinds of Prickly Spinach have been obtained; and the Common Winter or Prickly-seeded is now considered scarcely worthy of cultivation. YELLOW SORREL-LEAVED SPINACH. White Sorrel-leaved Spinach. Blond à Feuille d'Oseille. _Vil._ The leaves of this variety are similar in form and appearance to those of the Garden Sorrel. They are of medium size, entire on the border, yellowish-white at the base, greener at the tips, and blistered on the surface. New. Represented as being hardy, productive, slow in the development of its flower-stalk, and of good quality. * * * * * WILD OR PERENNIAL SPINACH. Good King Henry. Tota Bona. Goose-foot. Blitum Bonus Henricus. A hardy perennial plant, indigenous to Great Britain, and naturalized to a very limited extent in this country. Its stem is two feet and a half in height; the leaves are arrow-shaped, smooth, deep-green, undulated on the borders, and mealy on their under surface; the flowers are numerous, small, greenish, and produced in compact groups, or clusters; the seeds are small, black, and kidney-shaped. _Propagation and Culture._--"It may be propagated by seed sown in April or May, and transplanted, when the plants are fit to handle, into a nursery-bed. In August or September, they should be again transplanted where they are to remain, setting them in rows a foot apart, and ten inches asunder in the rows, in ground of a loamy nature, trenched to the depth of fifteen or eighteen inches, as their roots penetrate to a considerable depth. The following spring, the leaves are fit to gather for use; and should be picked as they advance, taking the largest first. In this way, a bed will continue productive for several years. "Being a hardy perennial, it may also be increased by dividing the plant into pieces, each having a portion of the root and a small bit of the crown, which is thickly set with buds, which spring freely on being replanted. "Most of the species of this genus, both indigenous and exotic, are plants of easy cultivation, and may be safely used as articles of food."--_M'Int._ _Use._--The same as Spinach. CHAPTER VII. SALAD PLANTS. Alexanders. Brook-lime. Buckshorn Plantain. Burnet. Caterpillar. Celery. Celeriac, or Turnip-rooted Celery. Chervil. Chiccory, or Succory. Corchorus. Corn Salad. Cress, or Peppergrass. Cuckoo Flower. Dandelion. Endive. Horse-radish. Lettuce. Madras Radish. Mallow, Curled-leaf. Mustard. Nasturtium. Garden Picridium. Purslain. Rape. Roquette, or Rocket. Samphire. Scurvy-grass. Snails. Sweet-scented Chervil, or Sweet Cicely. Tarragon. Valeriana. Water-cress. Winter-cress, or Yellow Rocket. Wood-sorrel. Worms. * * * * * ALEXANDERS. Alisanders. Smyrnium olusatrum. A hardy, biennial plant, with foliage somewhat resembling that of Celery. Stem three to four feet high, much branched; radical leaves pale-green, compound,--those of the stem similar in form, but of smaller size. The branches of the plant terminate in large umbels, or spherical bunches of yellowish flowers; which are succeeded by roundish fruits, each of which contains two crescent-shaped seeds. _Sowing and Culture._--It thrives best in light, deep loam; and is raised from seed sown annually. Make the drills two and a half or three feet apart, and cover the seeds an inch deep. When the plants are two or three inches high, thin to twelve inches apart; or sow a few seeds in a nursery-bed, and transplant. _Blanching._--When the plants are well advanced, they should be gradually earthed up about the stems in the process of cultivation, in the manner of blanching Celery or Cardoons; like which, they are also gathered for use, and preserved during winter. _To raise Seed._--Leave a few plants unblanched; protect with stable-litter, or other convenient material, during winter; and they will flower, and produce an abundance of seeds, the following summer. _Use._--It was formerly much cultivated for its leaf-stalks; which, after being blanched, were used as a pot-herb and for salad. They have a pleasant, aromatic taste and odor; but the plant is now rarely grown, Celery being almost universally preferred. PERFOLIATE ALEXANDERS. Smyrnium perfoliatum. A hardy, biennial species, from Italy; stem three feet in height, grooved or furrowed, hollow; leaves many times divided, and of a yellowish-green color; flowers, in terminal bunches, yellowish-white; seeds black, of the form of those of the common species, but smaller. It is considered superior to the last named, as it not only blanches better, but is more crisp and tender, and not so harsh-flavored. * * * * * BROOK-LIME. American Brook-lime. Marsh Speedwell. Veronica beccabunga. Brook-lime is a native of this country, but is also common to Great Britain. It is a hardy perennial, and grows naturally in ditches, and streams of water, but is rarely cultivated. The stem is from ten to fifteen inches in height, thick, smooth, and succulent, and sends out roots at the joints, by which the plant spreads and is propagated; the leaves are opposite, oval, smooth, and fleshy; the flowers are produced in long bunches, are of a fine blue color, and stand upon short stems,--they are more or less abundant during most of the summer, and are followed by heart-shaped seed-vessels, containing small, roundish seeds. _Cultivation._--It may be propagated by dividing the roots, and setting the plants in wet localities, according to their natural habit. It will thrive well when grown with Water-cress. _Use._--The whole plant is used as a salad, in the same manner and for the same purposes as Water-cress. It is considered an excellent anti-scorbutic. * * * * * BUCKSHORN PLANTAIN. Star of the Earth. Plantago coronopus. A hardy annual, indigenous to Great Britain, France, and other countries of Europe. The root-leaves are put forth horizontally, and spread regularly about a common centre somewhat in the form of a rosette; the flower-stem is leafless, branching, and from eight to ten inches high; flowers yellow; the seeds are quite small, of a clear, brown color, and retain their power of germination three years,--nearly two hundred and thirty thousand are contained in an ounce. _Soil and Cultivation._--It succeeds best in a soil comparatively light; and the seed should be sown in April. Sow thinly, broadcast, or in shallow drills eight inches apart. When the plants are about an inch high, thin them to three or four inches apart. _Use._--The plant is cultivated for its leaves, which are used as a salad. They should be plucked while still young and tender, or when about half grown. * * * * * BURNET. _Mill._ Poterium sanguisorba. Burnet is a hardy, perennial plant, indigenous to England, where it is found on dry, upland, chalky soils. When fully developed, it is from a foot and a half to two feet in height. The leaves proceeding directly from the root are produced on long stems, and are composed of from eleven to fifteen smaller leaves, which are of an oval form, regularly toothed, and generally, but not uniformly, smooth. The branches, which are somewhat numerous, terminate in long, slender stems, each of which produces an oval or roundish bunch of purplish-red, fertile and infertile flowers. The fertile flowers produce two seeds each, which ripen in August or September. These are oblong, four-sided, of a yellowish color, and retain their vitality two years. Thirty-five hundred are contained in an ounce. _Sowing and Culture._--The plant is easily propagated by seeds, which