302 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



siderable attention in provision for blanching. Plants may be grown 

 from seed, if it is fresh, as tomato plants are grown, and planted 

 out at about three feet apart each way. Plants can also be grown 

 from root cuttings as described for horse-radish, placing them about 

 three feet apart each way. Plants from root cuttings should be al- 

 lowed free growth for at least one year, and seedlings twice as long. 

 Preparation for use consists in covering the plant with an inverted 

 pot or box as the shoots appear and allowing it to make its growth 

 in the dark, thus producing blanched and tender midribs. In cut- 

 ting, the knife should go below the root crown, as new shoots come 

 readily from below. Old roots are productive for many years if 

 allowed to grow freely but not to form seed after the early growth 

 is cut for use. 



SQUARE-POD PEA. Lotus tetragonolobus. 



This plant has recently acquired some little popularity in Cali- 

 fornia as a table vegetable. It will make a good winter growth in 

 some regions of the state, though a little spring heat is more pleas- 

 ing to it. Its culture is like that of garden peas, and, if sown during 

 the rainy season, will bear an abundance of edible pods for early 

 spring use. The pods should be gathered when young and tender 

 and are cooked like string beans. 



CHINESE YAM.Dioscoria batatas. 



This climbing plant grows thriftily in California and sends, its 

 fleshy roots, which are the edible part, so deep that it seems to 

 contemplate return to its native country. To get the roots one has 

 to dig a well several feet deep, because they are so brittle that they 

 will stand no pulling whatever. With present prices of labor in this 

 country it is not profitable to go into deep mining to get starchy 

 food, and the plant is grown only as a curiosity. 



