VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE 415 



piece. These may be set about two inches deep in rows 

 three feet apart, and from eighteen to thirty inches 

 (according to the sort) in the row. All the culture re- 

 quired is to keep the surface soil light and free from 

 weeds. The plantation may be made in the fall, after the 

 leaves are killed by frost, and protected by litter, or as 

 early in the spring as the weather and soil permit. It 

 should not be disturbed after growth commences. Pluck 

 no leaves the first year, after which the crop will be 

 abundant. Make a new plantation about once in five 

 years. If a plant or two in summer dies out, as it is apt 

 to do in the South, it is best to remove, the next autumn, 

 the old plant, together with soil in which it grew, and 

 supply fresh soil. New plants to reset the vacancy can 

 be obtained by uncovering an old crown and cutting from 

 it a bud with a piece of root attached. 



To obtain the largest product, the flower stems should 

 be broken off when they appear, for the plant is weak- 

 ened by permitting it to seed. A yearly surface dressing 

 of well-rotted manure should be given, for the stalks to 

 be good must be quickly grown. 



Forcing. — This plant is forced by placing a large flower 

 pot over the roots, and covering with stable manure. The 

 more common way is to surround the plant with a small 

 barrel without a head; a cover is placed over it at night 

 and in cold days, and it is then surrounded with a pile of 

 stable manure built up in as sharp a cone as it can be 

 made to form. If the root is good it will soon fill the bar- 

 rel with shoots. The plant should be permitted to rest 

 after this crop through the season, and others be selected 

 for the purpose the next year. This operation, at the 

 North, is common enough, but at the South it is generally 

 death to the plant. 



Use. — The leaf-stem, or petiole of this plant, when the 

 external skin is removed, is cut up in thin slices, and, 



