WATERCRESS FARM.
The largest watercress farm in the world is that at Enghien, near Paris. It covers forty-five acres of ground, and consists of a series of ditches, or cress-beds, running parallel. The ditches are about 225 ft., long*
4ft. wide, and 18in. deep. They are separated from each other by grass paths 3ft. wide. The cultivation of the plant is both curious and picturesque. The cress is grown from seeds planted in April. Before they can be sown the beds have to be drained, tilled, and manured. When the young grass appears, cuttings are taken and planted in the various ditches in about a foot of water.
When the shoots begin to strike, a process known as "schnelling," peculiar to watercress cultivation, is carried out. By means of a flat piece of board, attached to a handle, and called the "schnel," the farmer lightly strikes the cress as he walks along the banks of the ditches., The object of this is to prevent the. plant sending shoots above the water. By pressing it down in this way lit grows yery bushy, and a greater quantity of cress is thus obtained.
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Bibliographic details
Cromwell Argus, Volume LIII, Issue 2793, 6 November 1922, Page 7
Word Count
191WATERCRESS FARM. Cromwell Argus, Volume LIII, Issue 2793, 6 November 1922, Page 7
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