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Sauer Kraut in North Germany and the North-west of France, every family 

 having its stock of this partially fermented vegetable for use during the winter 

 months. The wild Navew (B. Campestris), of which the Turnips are varieties, 

 produces useful foliage, but is chiefly valuable for its fleshy root when cultivated. 

 The Shepherd's Purse, already mentioned as a salad, is also cultivated as a 

 pot-herb, and the Garlic Hedge-mustard, above referred to, is in Germany boiled 

 in company with mutton, while in Wales, it is fried with bacon and herrings. 

 Sea Kale (Craiahe maritima), the tender shoots of which spring up amongst 

 the stones and sand of the sea shore, has been locally used for centuries, but it 

 is only in recent times that it has been regularly cultivated for the table. It is 

 one of those delicate and wholesome plants which, requii'ing a little care in 

 cultivation and in cooking, are comparatively little used. The blanched shoots 

 which spring in winter from the crown of the stored turnip make a good sub- 

 stitute for it. Cardamine Pratensis, enlarged by cultivation, is sold as a 

 pot-herb in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. 



Those who love the delicate flavour of Spinach will find something to 

 say against most of its substitutes, but the Mercury -leaved Goose-foot or Good 

 King Henry is a fair imitation of it and is sometimes preferred. The tender 

 tops of the Nettle ( Urtica dioica), gathered in early Spring, have an agreeable 

 flavour of their own, and although generally boiled as spinach are useful also 

 in soup. You may cut them in mid-vrinter if the roots have been planted 

 under a frame in rich soil, as seems to have been well known to Sir "Walter 

 Scott, one of whose characters plumes himself ujion having heen bred " where 

 they raise lang kale under glass and force early nettles." A friend from farthest 

 Shetland has grave fears that their use is decreasing. It was an old practice 

 in Alsace to boil them with the leaves of the violet. The young leaves of the 

 Dandelion make a good dish when boiled, and those of the sea-beet (Beta 

 maritima) are gathered for the pot by the cottagers on the coast. They are 

 gcod, especially with salt meat, and the worst I can say of them is that they 

 are rather "earthy" as compared with spinach. 



The common duckweed (Stellaria media) is remarkably nice when boiled. 

 The young shoots of the Bladder Campion (Silene injtata) have a strong flavor r 

 of gi-een peas, and, though rather bitter, that objection may be removed by 

 blanching. They are much used in the Levant. 



The Asparagus (Asj)aragus officiiwlis) a seaside plant very partially 

 distributed is well known in cultivation for the delicious flavour of its young 

 shoots. Of plants which are cooked in imitation of it, the Hop produces young 

 shoots which are much used in France and in some parts of England under the 

 name of "Hop tops." In Belgium there seems to be a practice of blanching 

 them by means of sand. Liunasus recommends the young shoots of the Sea Holly 

 the roots of which may also be candied and used as a sweetmeat. The young 

 flower spikes of the tall Star of Bethlehem (Ornithorjalum pyrciiaicnm) a rare 

 plant allied to the lilies are also boiled in the neighboiuhood of Bath. The 



