222 . PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



are among the first spring gifts. They will grow in any 

 soil, but not in all equally well. A mellow sandy loam is 

 best ; or rather that soil is best which will grow them the 

 quickest. If they are a long time in growing, they are 

 tough and stringy. It is said that a compost of the follow- 

 ing materials will produce them very early and finely. 

 Take equal parts of buckwheat bran and fresh horse-dung, 

 dig them in plentifully into the soil where you intend to 

 sow. Within two days a plentiful crop of toadstools will 

 start up. Spade them under, and sow your seed, and the 

 radishes will come forward rapidly, and be tender and free 

 from worms. 



The short-top scarlet^ is the best for spring planting. It 

 is so named, because, from its rapid growth the top is yet 

 small when the root is fit for the table. There is a white 

 and red turnip-rooted variety, also good for spring use. 

 The turnip-rooted kinds have not only the shape, but some- 

 thing of the sweetness and flavor of the turnip, and are by 

 some preferred to all others. For summer planting, there 

 is a yellow turnip-rooted sort and the summer white. For 

 fall and early winter, the white and black Spanish are 

 planted. When radishes are sown broadcast, it must be 

 very thinly, for if at all crowded they run to top, and 

 refuse to form edible roots. For our own use, we sow on 

 the edges of beds, devoted to onions, beets, etc., and thrust 

 each seed down with the finger. 



The radish {Maphanus sativus) is a native of China, and 

 was introduced to England before 1584. 



Salsify, ok Vegetable Oyster. — We esteem this to be 

 a much better root for table use than either the parsnip or 

 carrot. It is cultivated in all respects as these crops are. 

 Some have been skeptical as to their possessing an oyster 

 flavor. They seldom attain the true taste until, like the 

 parsnip, they have been well frosted. But if dug up dur- 

 ing spells in winter and early in the spring, and cooked by 

 an orthodox formula, they are strikingly like the oyster. 



