SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC BO'TANY. 631 
and seeds which were not recognizable by me in their cooked form. 
Prof. Georgeson, formerly of Japan, has kindly identified some of 
these for me,* but he says, “‘ There are doubtless many others used occa- 
sionally.” 
One may find sliced lotus roots, roots of large burdock, lily bulbs, 
shoots of ginger, pickled green plums, beans of many sorts, boiled 
chestnuts, nuts of the gingko tree, pickled greens of various kinds, 
dried cucumbers, and several kinds of sea-weeds. Some of the leaves 
and roots are cooked in much the same manner as beet-roots and’ beet- 
leaves are by us, and the general effect is not unappetizing. The boiled 
shoots are suggestive of only the tougher ends of asparagus. On the 
whole, I do not look back on Japanese railway luncheons with any 
longing which would compel me to advocate the indiscriminate intro- 
duction of the constituent vegetables here. 
But when the same vegetables are served in native inns, under more 
favorable culinary conditions, without the flavor of vinegar and of the 
pine wood of the luncheon boxes, they appear to be worthy of a trial 
in our horticulture, and I therefore deal with one or two in greater 
detail. 
Prof. Georgeson, whose advantages for acquiring a knowledge of the 
useful plants of Japan have been unusually good, has placed me under 
great obligations by communicating certain facts regarding some of the 
more promising plants of Japan which are not now used here. It 
should be said that several of these plants have already attracted the 
notice of the Agricultural Department in this country. 
The soy bean (Glycine hispida). This species is known here to some 
extent, but we do not have the early and best varieties. These beans 
replace meat in the diet of the common people. 
Mueuna (Mucuna capitata) and Dolichos (Dolichos cultratus) are pole 
beans possessing merit. 
Dioscorea ; there are several varieties with patatable roots. Years 
ago one of these was spoken of by the late Dr. Gray as possessing 
“excellent roots, if one could only dig them.” 
Colocasia antiquorum has tuberous roots, which are nutritious. 
*Pickled daikon, the large radish, often grated; ginger roots, Shoga; beans 
(Glycine hispida), many kinds, and prepared in many ways; beans (Dolichos 
cultratus), cooked in rice and mixed with it; sliced Hasu, lotos roots; lily bulbs, 
boiled whole and the scales torn off as they are eaten; pickled green plums, (Ume- 
boshi) colored red in the pickle, by the leaves of Perilla arguta (Shiso); sliced 
and dried cucumbers, Kiuri; pieces of Gobo—roots of Lappa major; Rakkio, 
bulbs of Allium Bakeri, boiled in Shogu; grated Wasabi, stem of Eutrema Wasabi; 
watercress, midzu-tagarashi (not often); also sometimes pickled geeens of vari- 
ous kinds, and occasionally chestnut kernels boiled and mixed with a kind of sweet 
sauce; nut of the Ginkgo tree; several kinds of sea-weeds are also very commonly 
served with the rice. (Prof. C. C. Georgeson in letter.) 
