16 BULLETIN" 123, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



lily of the valley, and like this plant, will live on and on after it is 

 once established. Many an asparagus bed does good service until 

 the second or third generation of owners, and it is strange that any 

 farm should lack this long-lived, easily cultivated delicacy. 



Asparagus should be cut just below the surface of the earth before 

 the bud begins to unfold and when the stalk is 6 to 8 inches above the 

 ground. Wash well and scrape the lower end. Cook in boiling salted 

 water until tender; fresh asparagus should not require 30 minutes. 

 Overcooking injures the flavor and color as it does with all green 

 vegetables. Season with melted butter or arrange on toast and season 

 with butter and salt. A cream sauce is often served with asparagus 

 and a cream soup may be made from the water in which the stalks 

 are boiled. 



Spinach is a favorite kind of greens and is seen in city markets 

 most of the year. A French proverb calls it the " broom of the 

 stomach," and it is richer in iron than most common foods. The 

 tenderest leaves may be served raw as a salad. Excellent canned and 

 evaporated spinach may be found in the larger grocery stores. 



Beets are sometimes grown especially for greens, but more often 

 surplus plants or surplus leaves are used for this purpose. The beet 

 plants are often eaten when very small. The tops of the early bunch 

 beets should always be used for greens and are palatable even when 

 the stalk and leaf are 6 or 8 inches long. Swiss chard is a variety of 

 the beet plant with thick leaf stems which is raised especially for 

 greens. Turnip tops, cabbage sprouts, kale, collards, alfalfa tops, 

 and pumpkin tops are sometimes used in this way. Carrots are also 

 occasionally used as a potherb and, like parsley, are perfectly whole- 

 some, but it should be remembered that some of the same family of 

 plants (the parsley family) are poisonous. 



Hop sprouts are seen in the foreign markets in March and April 

 and are commonly canned. Care is taken to cut the sprouts so as not 

 to interfere with the later growth of the vines. 



The Japanese use young shoots of burdock as a potherb. They are 

 better if blanched with earth for a few days before cutting. They 

 should be parboiled, drained, and cooked again until tender, and 

 served warm or cold with a salad dressing. Udo is another Japanese 

 salad plant which is being tried in this country. 



Onion tops: The bulbs and tops of young onions and the stalks 

 and leaves of leeks are good greens, the onion tops being more com- 

 monly cooked with other greens than alone. 



Fennel is used as a culinary vegetable in Europe and occasionally 

 in American gardens. The leafstalk is thick and swollen toward the 

 root, and thus becomes united almost like a bulb. It is cooked and 

 served much like onions, and also eaten raw as a salad or a relish. The 



