ots may be divided in spring or autumn.

_Use._--The leaves have the warm, pungent taste common to the Cress
family; and are used in their young state, like Cress, as a salad.
Medically, they have the reputation of being highly antiscorbutic and of
aiding digestion. There are four varieties:--

_White Flowering._--A variety with white, single flowers.

_Purple Flowering._--Flowers purple, single. Either of these varieties
may be propagated from seeds, or by a division of the roots.

_Double Flowering White._--Flowers white, double.

_Double Flowering Purple._--A double variety, with purple blossoms.
These varieties are propagated by a division of the roots.
Double-flowering plants are rarely produced from seeds.

* * * * *

THE DANDELION.

Leontodon taraxacum.

The Dandelion, though spontaneously abundant, is not a native of this
country. Introduced from Europe, it has become extensively naturalized,
abounding in gardens, on lawns, about cultivated lands; and, in May and
June, often, of itself alone, constituting no inconsiderable portion of
the herbage of rich pastures and mowing-fields.

It is a hardy, perennial plant, with an irregular, branching, brownish
root. The leaves are all radical, long, runcinate, or deeply and sharply
toothed; the flower-stem is from six to twelve inches and upwards in
height, leafless, and produces at its top a large, yellow, solitary
blossom; the seeds are small, oblong, of a brownish color, and will keep
three years.

_Soil and Cultivation._--Although the Dandelion will thrive in almost
any description of soil, it nevertheless produces much the largest, most
tender, and best-flavored leaves, as well as the greatest crop of root,
when grown in mellow, well-enriched ground. Before sowing, stir the
soil, either by the spade or plough, deeply and thoroughly; smooth off
the surface fine and even; and sow the seeds in drills half an inch
deep, and twelve or fifteen inches apart. If cultivated for spring
greens, or for blanching for salad, the seed must be sown in May or
June. In July, thin out the young plants to two or three inches apart;
cultivate during the season in the usual form of cultivating other
garden productions; and, in April and May of the ensuing spring, the
plants will be fit for the table.

For very early use, select a portion of the bed equal to the supply
required; and, in November, spread it rather thickly over with coarse
stabl