292 Subtropical Vegetable-Gardening 



cumbers. It is usually eaten cooked or pickled. The vine 

 of this plant resembles the watermelon vine to a consider- 

 able degree and may be mistaken for it. This plant can 

 be grown as a curiosity, or allowed to grow wild, and in 

 some places has become established as a weed. The fruits 

 are usually one or two inches long and more or less prickly, 

 though some tend to be quite smooth. It is supposed to 

 be a native of the American tropics. Not much attention 

 has been given to its cultivation. 



GINGER (Zingiber officinale) 



This plant can be grown successfully in most sub- 

 tropical gardens, as in south Florida, and up to elevations 

 of several thousand feet in tropical countries. In India 

 it is usually planted just before the rainy season, small 

 pieces of the rhizomes being set in rich soil one foot apart 

 each way. The ginger is ripe at the end of the year. 

 When grown for a preserve, the youngest tubers only are 

 taken, peeled, and preserved in cold sirup. 



DANDELION (Taraxacum officinale) 



This plant forms a favorite salad, and the large-leaved 

 garden varieties are the better for being blanched. The 

 Improved Thick-Leaved has done well in Cuba and 

 Porto Rico. 



ASPARAGUS BEAN (DoUcJios, or Vigna, sesquipedalis) 



This bean is grown in China and South America, 

 and its long pods are eaten as snap beans. It is a pole 



