ABOUT FEUrrS, FLOWEKS AND FAR3IIXG. 223 



"We have just consulted the oracle of our kitchen, and give 

 forth the following method of cooking it : Fii-st, oblige 

 your husband to raise a good supply of them. When you 

 have obtained them, scrape off" the outside skin — cut the 

 root lengthwise into thin slices — put them into a spider and 

 iust cover with hot water. Let them boil until a fork will 

 pass through them easily. Without turning off the water, 

 season them with butter, pepper, and salt, and sprinkle 

 in a little flour — enough to thicken the liquor slightly. Then 

 eat them. 



The success of this gustatory deception depends, more 

 than anything else, upon the skill in seasoning. If well done 

 they are not merely an apology, but they are a very excel- 

 lent substitute for the shell-fish himself; a thousand times 

 better than pickled can-oysters — those arrant libels upon all 

 that is dear in the remembrance of a live oyster. 



Every one may save seed for himself, as it will not, if well 

 cultivated, degenerate. It is a biennial, and roots may 

 either be set out, or left standing where they were planted. 

 When the seed begins to feather out it must be immediately 

 gathered, or like the dandelion or thistle, it will be blown 

 away by the wind. This vegetable should be much more 

 extensively cultivated than it is. 



BEA^■s. — There are three kinds — English dwan^ kidney 

 dwarf or string, and the pole beans. The first kind, so fer 

 as our experience has gone, are coarser than the others, 

 and, in our hot and dry summers, are very difficult to raise. 



Of kidney or bush beans, there is a long catalogue of 

 sorts. The Mohawlc is good for its hardmess, enduring 

 spring frosts with comparative impunity. The red-speckled 

 valentine is highly commended. But after a trial of some 

 twenty kinds, we are entirely contented with one — the 

 China redeye. It is early, hardy, very prolific, and well 

 flavored. 



Of the pole beans, one sort, the Lima^ might supersede 

 all others were it a little earlier. It is immensely prolific * 



