CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 



GARDEN PLANTS GROWN FOR THEIR STEMS 



Leaves for relishes ! But for solid support, let us have the stems. 



NEVIN WOODSIDE 



IN the United States, Irish potatoes, the Jerusalem 

 artichoke, kohl-rabi, and asparagus are the only impor- 

 tant garden vegetables that are grown for their stems. 

 These four plants belong to widely different families of 

 flowering plants, and are very different in their cultural 

 needs. 



THE IRISH POTATO 



The underground tubers, or thick, fleshy stems, of the 

 potato have recently become a most important food 

 for man. The plant is a native of America, but it is 

 now cultivated over practically all the cooler parts of the 

 world and also in the mountains of the tropics. More 

 tons of potatoes than of either wheat or rice are now used 

 each year for human food ; so the potato is one of the 

 leading food plants of the world. 



In general, potatoes are a field rather than a garden 

 crop. On the farm there is every advantage in growing 

 them in fields where rotation of crops is the rule. The 

 villager and others who own at least a half an acre or 

 more of land may find it profitable to raise potatoes, 

 especially the early sorts which mature at the time po- 

 tatoes command the highest prices. In the small garden, 

 where intensive methods are necessary and a crop must 

 be judged by the returns for the space it occupies, the 

 potato is not as profitable as some other crops. Another 

 reason for buying potatoes, rather than raising them in a 



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