CHAP. I. CULINAKY VEGETABLES. 163 



In England it is in very little request, and to many persons 

 scarcely known. The root is the part eaten, and is 'when ready, 

 about three months from the time of sowing, of the thickness of 

 a man's forefinger, and nine inches long. 



The seed should be sown when the Bains are over, either 

 broadcast or in drills eight inches apart. The plants in the 

 drills must be thinned out to four inches apart, and frequently 

 watered. They require a soil that has been previously well 

 dug up, and then lightened with a mixture of well-decayed 

 manure and silver-sand or ashes. 



The seeds imported from England are very uncertain of 

 germinating. The best plan, therefore, is to allow as many of 

 the plants to run to seed as will supply a sufficiency for sowing 

 the following season. The vegetable would probably suffer no 

 deterioration by adopting this plan, as it is not one of those 

 that have been brought to high condition by cultivation. 



The Americans call it the Oyster-plant, from the fancied 

 resemblance of its flavour to that of an oyster. As the mode of 

 dressing it may not generally be known, I subjoin the follow- 

 ing: 



" Having scraped the Salsify roots and washed them in cold 

 water, parboil them, then take them out, cut them into large pieces, 

 and fry them in butter. 



" Salsify is frequently stewed slowly till q\iite tender, and then 

 served up with melted butter. Or it may be first boiled, then 

 grated, and made into cakes to be fried in butter. 



" Salsify must not be left exposed to the air, or it will turn 

 blackish."* 



Scorzonera Hispanica. 



SCORZONEKA. 



This vegetable requires the same mode of cultivation as 

 Salsify, to which in most respects it is very similar, except that 

 it has broader leaves, and that the roots are black and require 

 to be scraped before being cooked. In Europe it is not con- 

 sidered fit for the table till the second year of its growth. In 

 my garden at Chinsurah it continued in a thriving condition 

 through the Hot and Kain seasons, and produced its handsome 

 lavender-coloured flowers in September. 



* Miss Leslie's 'Cookery Book,' p. 195. 



M 2 



