Vegetables with Edible Fruits 215 



OKRA 



This tropical annual or biennial (also called gumbo) 

 is cultivated in most tropical and subtropical countries, 

 where it often furnishes a welcome green vegetable when 

 no other can be obtained. Like the roselle, to which it is 

 related, it stands drought well, and hence suits the native 

 or negro inhabitants of the tropics, who prefer vegetables 

 which give them no trouble to raise. Its desirable qualities 

 lie in the mucilaginous pods. The taste for this vegetable 

 is more or less an acquired one, however; when used in 

 small quantities in soups, only a few persons object to it. 

 Besides its use in soup, it may be pickled, and also cooked 

 as a dish by itself. 



Any good agricultural land will produce okra. Like 

 cotton, it is partial to a warm sandy loam. To produce 

 okra for shipping purposes, a warm sandy loam should be 

 chosen, and highly fertilized, unless it is already rich. 

 When grown on poor soil, okra is stringy and wanting in 

 mucilage. The land should be prepared thoroughly and 

 deeply. The roots of this plant descend below any 

 ordinary plowing, so that it can stand an unusual drought 

 without apparently suffering. 



The rows should be made 1\ or 3 feet apart, and a seed 

 dropped about every 3 inches. The seed is planted an inch 

 deep. When the plants are about 6 inches high, they 

 should be thinned to a foot in the row for dwarf varieties, 

 and to about 1^ feet for the half dwarf varieties. If the 

 large varieties are planted, the rows may be made 4 feet 

 apart and the plants thinned out to 2 feet in the row. 



The cultivation should be deep and thorough. The 



