THE 



OEIGIN AND HISTOEY 



OP OUR 



GABDEN VEGETABLES 



AND THEIR DIETETIC VALUES 



CHAPTER I. 



ROOTS AND TUBERS. 

 THE CHINESE ARTICHOKE. 



Stachys Sieboldii has nothing to do with artichokes of any sort. It 

 belongs to the Labiate family, and has six allies or species of the 

 same genus wild in Great Britain. The present species occurs wild, 

 and is cultivated in North China, its native name being Tsanyungtzu, 

 while in Japan it is called Chorogi. It was introduced as a culinary 

 vegetable by the late Dr. M. T. Masters, F.R.S., in 1888. 



The dietetic value* resides especially in a carbonaceous substance, 

 which reaches 16'6 per cent. ; the albuminoids, 1*5; amides, 1*7; and 

 water, 78 '3 per cent. 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



" The early history of Helianthus tuberosus may be regarded under 

 three divisions a traditional, an early botanical, and a medieval and 

 modern. Of these the traditional resolves itself into the fact of its 

 having been cultivated as an article of food by the Indians of North 

 America before the settlement in that country of Europeans. The 

 earliest evidence of this cited by Mr. Trumbull is that derived from 

 Champlain, who, in 1605-06, observed that the Almonchiquois Indians 

 (of New England) had ' force des racines qu'ils cultivent, lesquelles 

 ont le gout d'Artichaut.' To this Mr. Trumbull adds that it is to these 

 roots that Lescardot alludes (' Hist, de la Nouv. France,' 1612), when, 

 speaking of the same Indians and their country, he says that the 

 latter contains a kind of roots, ' grosses comme naveaux, tres excellent 



* The dietetic values are taken from Professor Sir A. H. Church's book on 

 "Foods." The nitrogenous ingredients (albuminoids and amides) are the only 

 ones which make brain, muscle, nerves, bones, etc. ; the carbonaceous, e.g., sugars, 

 starch, and oils, contain no nitrogen, but supply energy and heat and make fat. 



