20 THREE NEW PLANT INTRODUCTIONS. 



shoots appear above the mound and are cut, like asparagus, by digging 

 down to the base or by inserting a long knife into the mound. 



By preparing a series of forcing trenches and planting them at dif- 

 ferent times, fresh shoots of the movashi udo can be had all winter 

 long, from November until the beginning of May. 



At the close of the forcing season the rootstocks are taken from the 

 trench, planted out in rows, manured heavily, allowed to grow all 

 summer, and forced again the following winter. These same roots 

 are used for several years. (See PI. V, tigs. 1, 2, and 3.) 



Although cheaper than the kan udo. this forcing variety will prob- 

 ably be better suited to our American conditions, for it yields shoots 

 throughout the winter, while the other sort produces them only in 

 October and November. The mild winters in Japan make these forc- 

 ing beds in the open ground possible, and it is probable that as far 

 north as Norfolk, Ya., the culture of udo in a similar way could be car- 

 ried on; if not, certainly Florida and California truck growers could 

 cultivate the plant. The kan udo might be grown even farther north 

 where the ground does not freeze until after the last of November. 



WASABI, THE HORSE-RADISH OF THE JAPANESE. 



INTRODUCTION. 



There is a fresh sharpness about Japanese wasabi that not even the 

 finest Austrian sorts -of horse-radisb possess. The color, too, is not 

 generally white, but a delicate shade of green, and although served 

 much in the same way that horse-radish is served in America, it is 

 quite a different thing. 



The roots, which are grated up to prepare this Japanese appetizer, 

 are produced by a plant of the same family as the true horse-radish 

 and the mustard, and botanists give it the name of Eutrerna wasabi. 

 (PI. VI., tigs, land 2.) 



To anyone fond of such things this Japanese horse-radish will prove 

 an acceptable novelty, and it is with the object of acclimatizing wasabi 

 in America that a few young plants have been secured and will be 

 propagated and tested in the trial gardens of the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



In Japan grated wasabi is a constant accompaniment to the raw 

 fish which forms such a prominent part of a Japanese meal. Without 

 it the fish would taste as unnatural to a diner as blue-point oysters on 

 the half-shell without horse-radish would taste to the average Amer- 

 ican. Wasabi is, in fact, universally used in the inns and tea houses 

 of the country. 



The wasabi plant is a peculiar one to cultivate, and there are certain 

 localities in Japan where it is grown, notably in the region about 

 Hiroshima. It is popularly believed that the culture must be carried 



