The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-11-12
WA CROSSES.
How to Secure an Incidental Income With
out Much Trouble.

How to Secure an Incidental Income With
out Much Trouble.
Water-cress is a very desirable crop
for market, as we'll as for home use,
under those conditions which favor its
growth. Its pleasant and pungent
flavor and its healthfulness make it a
favorite condiment in the winter and
early spring, when other fresh, green
fruit is scarce. 1t is an aquatic plant
and grows best in clear, running spring
water, although it may be grown in or
binary garden soil. Where the spring
water is so warm that it will not freeze
in the winter, and where the beds may
be covered with sashes, a very protita-
bic winter crop may be cut, or, at least,
"a very early spring cutting can be
made, which will sell at a high price.
As much as a dollar a basket has been
the price in the winter season, and
seventy-live cents a basket is q COM
mon price in the spring. The writer
has taken a basket from one foot in
length of a four-foot ditch in one cut
ting; and this first crop repaid four
times over the whole cost of the plan
tation and the sashes which COW
cred it. A wet swamp, with
a sandy bottom, is an excel
lent place for a plantation. bitches,
four feet wide and about eighteen
inches deep. are cut through the swamp,
heading in the springs; and wherever
other springs are found along the
course of the bitches. it is advisable to
lay covered drains to them. so as to add
to the supply of water. As little fall as
possible should be made, with a view to
preserving a sufficient depth OF water,
and a constant current-enough to keep
the water in motion. A space should
be left on each side OF the ditch of
about one foot or more, to rest a plank
upon for use in cutting the crop. 1t is
advisable. in digging the bitches, to
throw put the muck on one side only,
| unless the banks are needed to keep
| out flood-water. which may be the case
| when the bitches are used for rearing
brook trout-an addition to the culture
which is easy and profitable. The fish
feed upon the insects and mollusks
| which gather upon the cress, and help
to keep the plants free from these
parasites, and clean. 1t is necessary to
have the bitches smooth and level, so
that every part shall be kept covered
with water.
To keep up the supply of water in a
dry season, and to shut out high water
in the spring and fall, a gate having
water-tight Jennings is built in the ditch.
This should be substantially made, or
it will give much trouble. A cross cut
should be made in the ditch, to receive
the frame, which is so firmly bedded in
the bottom that water Will not work
out under the sill. Boards are driven
down into the bottom closely enough to
make a tight joint, and slides are nailed
to the frame in which the gate is fitted.
A strong gate should be built at the
outlet of the ditch, to keep III
back-water from the stream. or surface
water from plowed lands, which would
carry in mud and spoil the crop for the
season. AS the bed is finished. begin
ming at the bottom and working up
ward, it is TO be planted. The plants
are cuttings, which should be carefully
made from old beds. These are pushed
into the sand or mud, about a foot apart
each way, all over the bed, and will
soon cover the ground; or. the
bed may be seeded by sowing the
seed in the mud. as the ditch is made,
and trampiing it in. An easy way1o
cut the ditch is as follows: the work,
man begins at the outlet, and follows
the line of the ditch, which is staked
out and leveled previously; he sets g
portable gate, Or dam. to stop the
water, about twenty-five o. thirty feet
above, and digs out the ditch; then
plants or ows it at once, and then. re-
moving the instructions. lets down the
water, carefully. to avoid any damage
by washing. The dam is moved further
up, and the water stopped, and another
piece is dry. To prevent spelling the
bottom by trampling it too much, one
or two boards are used for the workman
to stand upon. The crop is collected
by gathering a bunch of the cress to.
gether with the left hand. and cutting
it off about our inches long. The
!, bunch is rinsed in the water, and is al
once placed. as it is held. iii the basket.
Water-cress baskets are made of splints,
and should hold about half a peck.
The cress is placed in a smooth, even
layer in the basket, and one LAYER upor
another, until the basket is rounded up,
when two strings are tied across the
top and the baskets are packed in crates
which hold one dozen each, or are
| packed in the wagon box for market
dnerfcan Aqriculturist.