74 BULLETIN 123, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



well as winter squashes % Most of those in the markets now are over- 

 grown. Asparagus 8 or 10 inches long is less desirable than if it 

 had been cut a day earlier at half the length. The custom of keep- 

 ing asparagus fresh in water increases its weight by absorption of 

 water, but causes loss of nitrogenous and mineral matter. Celery 

 should not have its roots spoiled by nails or its stalks bound with 

 colored strings. 



The medicinal qualities of vegetables need fuller investigation. 

 Money spent for scientific research in establishing or refuting tradi- 

 tional and popular ideas about the effects of celery in rheumatism, 

 onions for sleeplessness, etc., should give good returns. Probably 

 in most cases green vegetables and salad plants would prove more 

 useful than " spring medicine," in which so many have faith. 



There are times when, it is justifiable to pay a larger price for a 

 food than its actual nutritive value seems to warrant, because its 

 attractive appearance and flavor will make palatable the more 

 familiar and less costly foods. 



The wise buyer knows the nature of each article so well that when 

 strict economy is practiced decayed vegetables are refused, while 

 those only slightly withered but so unattractive as to be low priced 

 are secured and promptly freshened. 



The prices of vegetables in city markets seem exorbitant to those 

 who have never had to pay cash for such products, and make the 

 advantages of the home garden more fully appreciated. Too often 

 in the country the garden is neglected that " money crops " may have 

 more attention because its economic value is not recognized. If a 

 garden plat is intelligently arranged and its products are properly 

 prepared for the table, it often yields more profit than any cor- 

 responding area on a farm. Many a small garden, a quarter acre or 

 even less, wisely arranged will bring to the family table more food 

 than could be secured by any similar expenditure of money and labor. 



At the present time the list of vegetables which may be easily 

 grown is a long one and is being added to as new plants are found 

 or new varieties produced. Some of the novel plants recently 

 brought to this country for experiment by the Department of Agri- 

 culture are the " udo," a salad plant from Japan, Hungarian pap- 

 rika, the dasheen, and the adsuki bean. 



The future, judging from the recent past, will give increased facil- 

 ities for the preservation and transportation of all types of vege- 

 table products from every part of the world. Many plants now little 

 known will be studied, improved, and made available. Fewer seeds 

 and less cellulose or fiber will remain in many of the plants now in 

 common use. There will very likely be greater concentration of the 

 valuable constituents of such foods for convenience in transportation 

 and preservation, but none of the improvements are likely to change 



