Page:The family kitchen gardener - containing plain and accurate descriptions of all the different species and varieties of culinary vegetables (IA familykitchengar56buis).pdf/140



many virtues that were attributed to the Water Cress in days of old, if at all applicable then, are equally valuable at the present day. Its botanical name alludes to its warm and cordial qualities, which were considered to infuse life into persons of low and dull spirits. The Cress is also famed for its antiscorbutic qualities, and may be safely eaten at all seasons of the year, but is particularly in request in Spring. It should be found in our markets in profusion, being peculiarly adapted to the constitutions of those who live chiefly on animal food. Water Cresses are found growing in clear runs of water and springs throughout this country and Europe. There is about an acre of them at Spring-Mill, near this city. It is a plant that has winged leaves, like the Rose, or like half-grown leaves of the Ash tree, of a roundish heart-like shape, with few indentures on the edges; the upper part of which, after more mature growth, is of a reddish-brown color, and forms roots in the water at every joint.

. Wherever there is a running stream and a gravelly soil, they may be cultivated to advantage. In fact every spring house in the country should have attached to it a bed of Water Cresses. They may be obtained by the simple process of throwing the plants on the water; the seeds will ripen and soon propagate in abundance. They can also be cultivated in low, moist, loamy soil, that can be irrigated and drained at pleasure. Give it a deep diging with the spade in March or April; make beds four feet wide, and set the plants therein at about six inches apart. Water them abundantly; they will soon establish themselves, and the only culture they require is to keep them moist, and destroy carefully every weed. In the