EXPERIMENT STATION EEPORT. 499 



"well in cooking because of the softest part being within, and maj 

 be served the same as asparagus, b\it without the woody base, so 

 •objectionable with the latter vegetable. 



The midsummer growth of the Udo was not satisfactory, the 

 plants being infested with a blight that caused the leaves to turn 

 •brown, and before the season was through the whole group of 

 plants was nearly leafless. Flowers failed to foinn, with few ex- 

 'Ceptions, and no seed was gathered. It is likely that spraying 

 will check this disease, but it Avas purposely withheld. There is 

 fear that the TJdo may have a serious enemy in the blight in ques- 

 tion, the exact nature of which is under consideration. 



CHINESE VEGETABLES. 



Eighteen packets of Chinese vegetable seeds (Numbers 17858- 

 17953) were received last spring through the courtesy of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, and some of these have 

 shown qualities desen'ing special mention. The TJ. S. D. A. 

 17867 is a eabbage-like plant, particularly as to the smooth, waxy 

 blade of the leaf, the midrib of which is very large, nearly white 

 and resembles that of the Swiss chard. Professor Bailey* figures 

 this under the name of Pak-Choi. Six specimens of differing ages 

 are shown in tlie upper half of Plate XXV. The plant at 1 has 

 been cut lengthwise through the center to show the pure white 

 interior, made up of the younger leaves with their coral-like stalks 

 and midribs. It is these pure white-leaf stalks and the smaller 

 leaves with them, making up an interior similar to a "head" of 

 lettuce, that are used for the table and may l)e prepared in the 

 same numner as cabbage or cauliflower and make a very acceptable 

 substitute for either. It may be used in the raw condition, similar 

 to celery, in the making of salads. At 2 a smaller plant is seen 

 tied with a tape ready for the market, and strings have been 

 placed around the much-spreading leaves of smaller plants at 3, 

 4 and 5 to draw them together for the more complete ble;aching 

 of the interior during the latter portion of the plant's stay in the 

 gTOund. 



A few of the plants sent up flower stalks, and, by midsummer, 

 had matured a crop of seeds, the main portion of which was har- 



* "Some Recent Chinese Vegetables." L. H. Bailey. Bulletin No. 67, New 

 York (Cornell) Experiment Station, June, 1894. 



