THE PRAISE OF CRESSES.
FLOWING springs, and especially the upper waters of the chalk streams, bubbling up from the bases of the millions of tons of superincumbent downs in which these waters have been gently descending since they fell on the hills in drops of rain, or were sucked from the clouds and mists six months before, enjoy a kind of aqueous climate, equably and evenly cool, yet never chilled from the surface to the bed of the brook by the hardest frosts or the most nipping winds. Often when the meadows by their sides are icebound, or the walls of the little chalk caverns from which they come out poppling and bubbling from the cisterns of the hill are hung with the chilly fingers of the icicles, the life of the water-plants, and of the creatures which feed upon them, seems to go on as gaily as ever, and the stream bears just beneath its surface, if not above it, the long trails and streamers of the water-gardens, waving and trembling in the current's throb, marking the curls or ripples of the brook. The streams are the natural forcing-houses, producing a subaqueous vegetation far earlier than any other that appears on land. In the same way, the fostering element hurries on the growth of other plants, which, with their roots and stems below it, are the first to push forth leaves and branchlets above the water into the influences of the cold spring air.
Among these is the water-cress, the gathering of which is the first harvest of the year. The cultivation of the plant is as beautiful a feature in the brookside landscape as the creases themselves are excellent for the table. But the importance of the cress in what may be called the natural economy of old English life was far greater even than it is at present. Then there were almost no green winter plants in the garden except the cabbage and the leek, and none at all with such obviously refreshing qualities as the graceful little plant in the brooks. There were no winter salads of celery or beetroot; sea-kale was unknown as a garden plant; and yet the food of the bulk of the population was salted meat in some form—salt beef, salt pork, or smoked and salted mutton —because there were no turnips and no mangolda on which to keep the sheep and cattle alive. It has been said that the discovery of the way to the Spice Islands round the Cape of Good Hope was hastened because the Turks had intercepted the supplies of preservative spices used as an alternative to salt for curing the winter food-supply, and that Western Europe was threatened with an increase of scurvy every spring like that in a ship sailing into the South Seas in the days of Drake or Anson. The water-cress would seem to have been made by Providence to meet the needs of the time. In the months of February and March—when the health of all Western Europe was low and scurvy common ; when there were few fresh garden vegetables to eat and no wild ones were in leaf; when the Church, probably with a view to pre- serving health, ordered a dish of fish or eggs, to avoid the salted food, yet with a curious want of sense insisted on the fish in places where the only fish to be had was salted fish—almost every little brook was producing the most valuable anti- scorbutic plant in the world, springing up uncultivated and unbidden, beautiful to look upon, admirable in flavour, and appearing not only as the herald of spring, but as a kind of medicinal gift presented by Nature, and bearing its own invitation to eat it in the greenness of its leaves and the delicate aroma of its stalks. And yet not even the monks seem ever to have dreamed of cultivating it 1 They dug innumerable ponds for the fish ; but the idea of supple- menting them by cress-beds seems never to have occurred to them, though the medicinal qualities of the plant should have been well known to all, and the manner of its propagation was obvious from a visit to the nearest Brookside.
The various cresses, and among them the water-cress, have played a part in making navigation and discovery possible by their wonderfully rapid growth, and by their concentrated medical virtue in counteracting scurvy. Common garden cress seeds have been carried in great quantity on Arctic voyages, and the cress has been grown by laying the seed on blankets and pouring warm water over it several times a day. It seems probable that navigators of the Pacific Ocean, not only explorers, but also pirates, who used the distant islands as a base, often planted anti-scorbutic vegetables, and especially cresses, on these lonely spots, in the same way that they "dumped" tortoises and turtles, the result being that these islets became " physic gardens," and rendered, possible the navigation of great and distant tracts in the South Seas. One species of water-cress is known as " South Sea cress," and has always been sought by ships' crews as an antidote to scurvy, just as an extract of our European water-cress, mixed with the juice of scurvy grass and of Seville oranges, is used to make the popular anti-scorbutic medicine known as " spring juices."
An account, equally charming and interesting, of the happy discovery of water-cress by a scurvy-stricken crew will be found in the story of Lord Anson's "Voyage Round the World," in the years 1740-44, written nominally by the chaplain of the Centurion,' but cor- rected, and very probably in part written, by Anson himself. The squadron's adventure was something like the task set the Baltic Fleet, their orders being to sail round Cape Horn, to form a flying base on some Pacific island, to attack the Spanish trade in the Pacific, and if possible to qapture the galleon of treasure which left Manila yearly for Mexico. The rendezvous chosen by Anson was "Robinson Crusoe's " island, Juan Fernandez, the account of which Anson had carefully read 'up in Selkirk's narrative. When the battle- ship ' Centurion' reached the island, after a disastrous passage round Cape Horn, two hundred of the crew had already died of scurvy, and the rest were so weak that out .of a total of between four and five hundred, only ten foremast men in a watch were capable of doing duty. The Centurion's' crew found on Juan Fernandez not only the remains of Selkirk's herds of goats, which the Spaniards had caused to be killed down, but " almost all the vegetables which are usually esteemed to be particularly adapted to the cure of those disorders which are contracted by salt diet and long voyages. We found great quantities of water-cresses and purslane, with excellent wild sorrel and a vast profusion of turnips and Sicilian radishes. These vege- tables, with the flesh and fish which we obtained, were not only extremely grateful to our palates, but were likewise of the most salutary consequence to our sick in recovering and invigorating them, and of no mean service to us who were • well, in destroying the lurking seeds of scurvy." It is pleasant to note the foresight of the typical English- man who commanded the squadron. "Mr. Anson, therefore, having with him garden seeds of all kinds, and stones of different sorts of fruits, for the better accommodation of his countrymen who should hereafter touch here, sowed both lettuces, carrots, and other garden plants, and in the woods . a great variety of plum, apricot, and peach stones, and these, . he has been informed, have since thriven." It would be interesting to know whether they have propagated any descendants.
The famous scurvy grass, which is one of the cruciferous order to which the cresses belong, is found in England in three varieties. Its habit is to grow near the seashore ; consequently it is almost the first plant which a suffer- ing crew would find ready to hand on landing. It is seen along the muddy banks of rivers and on seashores, especially near Lymington, in parts of Wales, and in Cumberland. One variety grows on the Scotch mountains. It is not a " grass " in any sense, but an upright plant with spoon-shaped leaves, and large bunches of white and rather pretty flowers. The small species found on the Scotch hills is the Greenland scurvy grass. But it may be doubted whether the water-cress is not the most medicinal, as well as the most agreeable to eat, of all the tresses and medicinal Cruciferae. A famous physician in the Midlands always declared that he felt it his duty to eat all the water-cress upon a table, not because he was greedy, but to set a good example. Mr. W. T. Fernie, M.D., in his most interesting book on "Herbal Simples " (London Simpkin and Marshal), supports this view by the result of an analysis made in the School of Pharmacy in Paris. He also quotes Dr. Chanibers, who says in "Diet in Health and Disease " that he " regards the water-cress seller as one of the saviours of her country "; while Culpeper said long ago : " They that will live in health may eat water-cress if they please ; and if they won't I cannot help it." There was alscia "water-cress cure" for consumption. The Romans called the plant nasturtium, because its scent was supposed to affect the nostrils and cause sneezing ; and, according to Mr. Fernie, the plant is still called "stertion " in some country places, and was also called " shamrock."
Fortunately water-cress culture is now so common and so important that local names for the plant are likely to be forgotten. The beds or levels are beautiful objects in them- selves, and as the demand for the plants has grown, so have the chalk springs been cultivated up to the heads of their tiniest tributaries. In some villages where little streams flow before the cottage doors a thin green line of cress is planted all down the streets, carefully protected, let us hope, from the drainage of the houses. Ewelme, the model village made by the Duke of Suffolk in the early fifteenth century, stands in a maze of cress-beds and green levels, with plants at all stages of growth. The head-waters of most of the chalk streams in the Downs are now converted into cress-beds, and there are instances in which those who lost considerable capital in arable farming, and had to abandon it for want of cash, have turned water-cress farmers and re-established their position. Every " rod " of ground planted is expected to yield two " flats " or baskets at each cutting, and each basket holds two hundred penny bunches (retail) of cress. The poisonous water-plant often mistaken for cress is called " brooklime." It has a blue flower in place of a white one, and the taste and smell are particularly unpleasant.
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