416 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



having an agreeable acid, is used exactly like the apple 

 for pies, tarts, and sauce at a time that fruits cannot be 

 obtained. Gather them while young, just as they attain 

 their full size, before they lose their fine flavor. They 

 should be gently slipped from the root without using a 

 knife. 



This plant is in almost universal use in England, 

 France, and the Northern States, and succeeds perfectly 

 well in Middle Georgia. 



SALSIFY. — ( Tragopogon porrifolium.) 



Salsify, or Vegetable Oyster, is a hardy, tap-rooted 

 biennial, a native of various parts of Europe, with long 

 tapering root of a fleshy, white substance, the herbage 

 smooth and glaucous, the flower-stem three or four feet 

 high, and the flower of a dull purple color. It belongs to 

 the Composite family. 



Mammoth Sandwich Island is the variety generally 

 cultivated in the South. It grows vigorously to double 

 the size of the older forms, and yields an excellent flavor. 

 The Long White is the old standard salsify. 



Salsify likes a light, mellow soil, dug very deeply, as 

 for carrots arid other tap-rooted plants. Sow early in 

 spring, and for a succession until the summer heats come 

 on, rather thickly, in drills an inch deep and a foot apart. 

 An ounce of seed will sow a square rod. Scarlet radish 

 may also be sown thinly in the same drills. When an inch 

 high, thin the plants, and continue by degrees until the 

 plants are six inches apart. If the soil is deep and moist, 

 they will grow all summer and not run up to seed. 

 Watering in dry weather, especially with guano water, 

 will greatly invigorate the plants. Cultivate the soil, 

 and keep it free from weeds, as for beets and carrots. 

 The roots mav be drawn and stored in sand, but where 



