winter or early in spring; but, if the weather is severe,
the plants must be protected by straw or some other convenient material.
Early in March, or as soon as the weather becomes a little mild, remove
the covering, and the plants will keep the table supplied until the
leaves from fresh sowings shall be grown sufficiently for cutting.

_Seed._--To raise seed, allow a few plants from the spring sowing to
remain without cutting. They will grow up to the height and in the
manner before described, and blossom, and ripen their seed during the
summer. An ounce of seed will sow a row two hundred feet in length, and
about five pounds will be required for an acre.

_Use._--The leaves, while young, are used as a salad; and in winter, or
early in spring, are considered excellent. They are also sometimes
boiled and served as Spinach.

_Varieties._--

COMMON CORN SALAD.

Root-leaves rounded at the ends, smooth, three or four inches long by
about an inch in width. The younger the plants are when used, the more
agreeable will be their flavor.

LARGE ROUND-LEAVED.

Leaves larger, of a deeper green, thicker, and more succulent, than
those of the foregoing variety. It is the best sort for cultivation. The
leaves are most tender, and should be cut for use while young and small.

LARGE-SEEDED ROUND. _Vil._

This is a sub-variety of the Large Round, and is much cultivated in
Germany and Holland. The leaves are longer, narrower, and thinner, and
more tender when eaten; but the Large Round is preferred by gardeners
for marketing, as it bears transportation better. The seeds are about
twice as large.

ITALIAN CORN SALAD. _Vil._

Valerianella eriocarpa.

The Italian Corn Salad is a distinct species, and differs from the
Common Corn Salad in its foliage, and, to some extent, in its general
habit. It is a hardy annual, about eighteen inches high. The radical
leaves are pale-green, large, thick, and fleshy,--those of the stalk
long, narrow, and pointed; the flowers are small, pale-blue, washed or
stained with red; the seeds are of a light-brown color, somewhat
compressed, convex on one side, hollowed on the opposite, and retain
their vitality five years,--nearly twenty-two thousand are contained in
an ounce.

It is cultivated and used in the same manner as the species before
described. It is, however, earlier, milder in flavor, and slower in
running to seed. The leaves are sometimes employed early in spring as a
substitu