^12 



Salsify or VegetaUe Oyster. 



Vol II 



^ork, having three short tines, perfectly flat, 

 and about an inch broad; however, in want 

 of such, it may be performed with a small 

 short prong-ed dung tbrk. 



In forking the beds, be careful to loosen 

 every part to a moderate depth, but taking 

 great care not to go too deep to wound the 

 crowns of the roots. 



The above work, of forking these beds, is 

 most necessary to be done every Spring, to 

 improve and loosen the ground^ and to give 

 free liberty for the buds to shoot up. 



The beds being forked, they must after- 

 wards be raked even ; observing, if you do 

 not rake them immediately after they are 

 forked, to defer it no longer than the first 

 week in April, at which time a few Radish 

 seeds may be scatterd over them, to pull up 

 while young. 



Asparagus plants will not produce buds 

 large enough to cut for general use, in less 

 than three years from the time of planting. 

 But in the tburth year, when the shoots are 

 thfee or four inches high, they will bear ex- 

 tensive cutting. The best way of cutting, is 

 to slip the knife down perpendicularly, close 

 to each shoot, and cut it off slantingly, about 

 tliree or four inches within the ground, taking 

 care not to wound any young buds coming up 

 from the same root, for there are always 

 several shoots advancing in different stages 

 of growth. 



From tlie Concord Fn eman. 



Salsify, or Vegetafele Oyster. 



Mr. Gourgas. — la an editorial notice of 

 the Horticultural Register, in your paper a 

 ■week or two since, I observed an allusion 

 made to this delicious vegetable. It seems 

 singular, that a plant which thrives so well in 

 our own climate, which requires no greater 

 attention than the generality of common gar- 

 den vegetables, and which is so exceedingly 

 delicious, should be a greater stranger with 

 our farmers and at our markets, than many ex- 

 otics of high price and less v/orth — yet so it is. 

 With the wish to introduce it to the notice of 

 others, allow me to furnish a few remarks 

 upon its cultivation and use, the substance of 

 which will be, perhaps, but a mere repeti^Jon 

 of what has already been before the public. 



The Salsify is a hardy perennial, of English 

 origin, having a long, white, tapering root, 

 very much like that of the common parsnep; 

 by some methods of cooking, it is made to as- 

 similate in taste of the oysters, and has thus 

 received the second, and appropriate name of 

 "Vegetable Oyster ;" but when simply boiled 

 like tlie beet or carrot, it possesses no flavor 

 of this kind, or if any, so faint is it, that one 

 wou'd need to be reminded of the oyster in 

 order to recognise any similarity of taste be- 

 tween the two. The seed should be sown in 



a deep rich soil, early in May ; the ground 

 should be deeply spaded, so that the roots may 

 meet with no obstruction in their growth, and 

 let it be well manured ; sow your seed in drills, 

 about the same distance apart as you do beets, 

 or parsnips; cover it about two-thirds of an 

 inch deep with mellow, clean earth, which 

 should be pressed down hard with the flat of a 

 hoe, so that if wet weather comes it may not 

 be washed away, or if a dry time succeeds, it 

 may the better retain its moisture : when fairly 

 up, thin them well, and keep the surface of 

 the ground thoroughly cleared of weeds the 

 season through. The roots should be pulled 

 about the middle of October, and packed 

 away in the cellar in moist sand — they will 

 keep well till the month of May. 



There are various ways of cooking this ve- 

 getable, which it will be well to notice briefly, 

 for the benefit of those who are unacquainted 

 with it. First — cut the roots cross-wise in 

 three pieces, boil them till soft; then mash 

 and thicken them with flour, and fry them in 

 butter. Second — par-boil them, cut them 

 lengthwise, and fry them in butter; it is by 

 this mode of cooking that they are made to 

 resemble [in taste] tiie oyster. Third — they 

 may be simply boiled and eaten as other roots, 

 or, after being boiled, sliced up and fried a.s 

 an accompaniment to any roast dish. The 

 best I have ever eaten were those which 

 were boiled, and after being dished had some 

 some meat gravy or melted butter turned over 

 them; as it regards the cooking, however 

 each one must be his own judge of the best 

 way. 



I really wish our farmers would take to 

 raising this delicious vegetable, for it requires 

 no extra trouble, yields plentifully, and is 

 sdiknn destroyed by insects. I believe if 

 they once get a taste of it their tables would 

 seldom be set without a good substantial dish 

 of it on. But if they should not happen to 

 fancy it particularly for home consumption, 

 nothing will sell in the Boston market more 

 readily, or for a better price; a rod or two of 

 ground planted with it, would yield treble the 

 profit of the same sized piece sown with 

 onions or any other ordinary vegetable. The 

 demand for it in the city has been and is 

 nothing like supplied. This, if nothing else, 

 should be some inducement to farmers and 

 gardeners to take hold of the business this 

 coming' season. J. D. E. 



A French writer says, that "the modest 

 deportment of those who are truly wise, when 

 contrasted with the assuming air of the igno- 

 rant, may be compared to the different appear- 

 ances of wheat, which, while its ear is empty, 

 holds up its head proudly, but as soon as it is 

 filled with grain, bends modestly down, and 

 withdraws from observation." 



