TARO 



TASMANNIA 



3313 



the white potato, making the dasheen seem slightly 

 sweet hy comparison, lake other taros, it is held by 

 many to be easy of digestion as compared with most 

 other starchy foods. 



In the United States, the dasheen is at present grown 

 exclusively as an upland crop, that is, not under flooded 

 conditions as other taros are usually grown in Hawaii. 

 The crop requires about seven months of warm frost- 

 less weather fully to mature. It has been grown with 

 best results in a moist but well-drained rich sandy 

 loam. Heavy soils produce a low quality of conn and 

 tuber, and often a poor yield. Muck soils, if they con- 

 tain a moderate amount of moisture, usually produce 

 a heavy crop of dasheens but of poor quality for table 

 use. Dry soils of any kind are useless for dasheens. 



Planting should be made in the early spring, just so 

 that the last spring frost will be past before the plants 

 are up. In central Florida, it is made about the middle 

 of March and farther north, up to early April. Cormels, 

 or "tubers," two to four ounces in weight, are generally 

 used for planting, although smaller ones may be used. 

 I-arger tubers, small conns, or the upper parts of 

 larger conns may also be planted when available. The 

 character of soil is of greater importance than the size 

 of tuber planted. The tuber is planted about 2 inches 

 below the surface. The plants are spaced 4 by 3 or 

 3H by 3 l /i feet, on level ground except where there is 

 danger from standing water, when planting should be 

 done on ridges. With level planting the soil is gradually 

 drawn toward the plants in cultivating during the 

 latter half of the season. The large leaves shade the 

 ground almost completely by midseason if the soil 

 conditions are good. 



The crop matures in late October and early Novem- 

 ber in the southern United States. Harvesting is per- 

 formed with a spade or with team and plow. Dasheens 

 keep well when properh- handled and stored. The entire 

 subject is treated at length in bulletins of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



ROBERT A. YOUNG. 



TARRAGON (Artemisia Dracunculus, which see) is 

 a close relative of wormwood (A. Absinthium). It is a 

 perennial composite herb native of the Caspian Sea 

 region and Siberia, and is cultivated as a culinary 

 herb in western Europe. Its lanceolate entire leaves 

 and small inconspicuous and generally sterile blos- 

 soms are borne upon numerous branching stems, 2 to 3 



feet tall. Its green parts, which possess a delicate 

 aromatic flavor resembling anise, are widely used for 

 seasoning salads and for flavoring vinegar, pickles, and 

 mustard. The essential oil of tarragon and tarragon 

 vinegar are articles of commerce, the crop being grown 

 extensively in southern France for this purpose. The 



3777. Full-grown plant of dasheen, the variety of taro 

 grown in the United States. 



3778. A hill of dasheen. The large central conn, with part ol 

 leaf-stems still attached, is surrounded by the connels, or tubers, 

 just as they grow. 



former is obtained by distillation of the green parts, the 

 latter by simple inf usion in vinegar. The best time to 

 gather the crop for distillation or infusion is when the 

 first flowers begin to open, since the plants have then a 

 larger percentage of oil than before or after. From 300 to 

 500 pounds of green parts, according to seasonal and 

 other conditions, are needed to produce one pound of oil. 



As cultivated tarragon rarely produces viable seed, 

 the plant is propagated by cuttings of both old and 

 green wood and by division of the roots. Cuttings may 

 be taken at any convenient time, but the best time for 

 the division is when the plants have just begun to 

 grow in the spring. Tenacious and wet soils should be 

 avoided and only loams of medium texture and of 

 poor quality in sunny situations chosen. The plants 

 may be set, either in the spring or in the autumn, 1 

 foot apart and cultivated like sage or mint. The flower- 

 stems should be removed as soon as seen, as this will 

 force greater growth of leaves. The green parts may 

 be gathered at any time, after the plants have become 

 established, and used fresh. Dried tarragon is nearly 

 as useful as green, but there is little market for it, less 

 even than for the leaves. At the approach of winter, 

 especially in cold and snowless climates, the stems 

 should be cut down and the plants covered with litter 

 or leaves. The position of the beds should be changed 

 every three or four years. Tarragon is less cultivated 

 in America than it deserves. Most of our tarragon 

 vinegar comes from France. 



A wholly different plant, Tagetes lucida, is much like 

 tarragon in flavor and has been used as a substitute 

 for it. M. G. KAINS. 



TASMANNIA (named after Abel Jansen Tasman, 

 navigator, for whom the island Tasmania is named). 

 Now considered a synonym of Drimys. One species, 

 Drimys aromdtica, Muell. (Tasmdnniaaromdiica, R.Br.), 

 is sometimes mentioned in horticultural literature: 

 small tree or a bushy shrub with pinkish fls., elliptic- 

 oblong or oblong-lanceolate Ivs. and aromatic pea-size 

 berries. Victoria, Tasmania. B.R. 31:43. 



