doned to their beasts of burden. We are wise in
letting the ox eat grass for us, but with the grass he too often
consumes tender herbs which might find a place on our own tables, to the
advantage of appetite and digestion. Dandelion, corn-salad, chicory,
mint, sorrel, fennel, marshmallows, tarragon, chives, mustard, and
cresses, and their numerous kind, grow wild, or can be cultivated with
but little trouble; and should find their way to favor in every family,
for with the oil and vinegar employed in dressing them, they promote
digestion, and purify the system; while the condiments used with them
are of decided medicinal value.

There is some degree of truth in the idea that a salad-maker is born,
not made, and yet with due care and delicate manipulation, almost any
deft-handed and neat-minded individual may become an expert salad
dresser. Most careful preparation of the green vegetables is
imperatively necessary to the production of a good salad; they must be
freshened in cool water, cleaned of all foreign matter, well drained
upon a clean napkin; and, above all, torn with the fingers, and not cut
with a knife. Then the various ingredients should be very delicately and
deliberately compounded, and withal by a quick and cunning hand, and the
result will be perfection. Below we give the receipts for a class of
salads best adapted for general use.

In the preparation of all salads only good oil should be used, as none
other will produce invariably satisfactory results. The very best salads
are often the result of the inspiration of the moment, when the
necessity arises for substituting some ingredient near at hand for one
not to be obtained, as in the case of the shad-roe salad mentioned
below. The formula called for Russian caviare, but Russian caviare was
not to be had, and a cold shad-roe was; the consequence was its
substitution and the alteration of one or two other ingredients, and the
result, we do not hesitate to say, was the production of one of the most
delicious salads ever invented. Let careful housekeepers not given to
these "foreign dishes" remember that they are not only appetizing but
economical.

120. =Spring Salad.=--Break one pint of fresh mustard tops, and one of
cresses, tear one good-sized lettuce, and chop two green onions; place
all lightly in a dish, and ornament it with celery and slices of boiled
beet. Use it with a cream dressing.

121. =Watercress Salad.=--Serve one quart of watercresses w