New Vegetables. 213 



disappearance of the canker-worm, as before mentioned, is largely owing 

 to these parasites. 



It would be a great blessing to orchardists if our chemists could discover 

 some substance that would remain sticky in spite of the elements, or else 

 poison the grubs in their ascer^t. 



NEW VEGETABLES FOR 1869.— No. II. 



By Fearing Burr, Hingliani, Mass. 



Scoiune (fEspagne. — Though imported as a novelty, and mentioned 

 in " The London Gardener's Chronicle " as " a new vegetable," this plant 

 is but the Spanish oyster-plant, or scolymus, described in most works on 

 horticulture, and found in the catalogues of our principal seedsmen. So 

 far, howijver, as regards its cultivation and use in .this country, it is indeed 

 rare. There is probably no section where it is grown to any extent ; and 

 we think it would scarcely be recognized by many even of our most expe- 

 rienced gardeners and market-men. In Spain, where scolymus is largely 

 grown, it is regarded not merely as a wholesome vegetable, but as a very 

 great luxury. 



Though really a perennial, the plant is generally treated as a biennial ; 

 the method of sowing, culture, and harvesting being the same as practised 

 in the raising of the carrot or parsnip. The leaves are large, pale green 

 variegated with white, and so thickly set with sharp spines as to be 

 scarcely distinguishable from those of some species of thistle. Indeed, 

 the plant was originally known as "golden thistle," referring also to the 

 color of its flowers. The root, for which alone it is cultivated, is white, 

 and nearly of the size and form of an Altringhara carrot ; generally meas- 

 uring twelve or fifteen inches in length, and an inch or more in diameter 

 at the crown. It is easily preserved during winter, and is used in all the 

 forms, besides possessing in a good degree the flavor and general excel- 

 lence of salsify, or the true oyster-plant 



