CRESS. Peppergrass. Lepidium sativum. A hardy annual, a native of Persia. The leaves of cress are eaten, when young, as a salad, either separately or mixed with lettuce or other salad plants, thus imparting their warm pungent taste. To cultivate Cress the soil should he made very firm, and the seed sown—as soon as the soil may be worked—rather thickly, in drills eight inches apart, covering hut slightly. Sow at intervals of a fortnight until the middle of May, for succes sion, since the plants become acrid when they get old. About 14,000 seeds- are contained in an ounce and this amount is usually sown in 100 feet of drill. There are a number of varieties Broad leaved, Curled-leaved, Golden cress, etc. Water cress (Nasturtium officinale) is a hardy, aquatic perennial, found, g-rowing naturally, along spring brooks, ponds and wet ditches. In cultivation it succeeds best, when grown in running water, in gravelly soil. The roots are planted in spring
in water from four to eigbt inches deep. There are three described varieties. The small, Brown leaved, the hardiest ; the Green-leaved considered to be the easiest of cultivation, and the large, Brown-leaved; the last the best, and the only one that can be grown in water not quite shallow.
Indian Cress (Tropceolum majus) common nas turtium, is a brilliant, yellow-flowered, climbing plant, the fruit of which resembles capers. Sow late in spring in good, strong soil and open situa tion ; put out in rows, allowing six inches between plants ; set sticks for them to climb. They flower in June and July. The fruit is excellent for pickling, when full-sized but green. They are put in vinegar or a suitable pickle as soon as gathered. There are many varieties, both running and dwarf, much used by florists for their elegant bloom.