224 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



-JL.-,-. 





291. Cardoon is handsome enough for the shrubbery. The long leaf stalKs are blanched and used for salads 

 liKe celery in winter. Grows three feet high. Comes from Spain. A perennial herb 



results. The leaves measure three feet by 

 twenty-three inches, and are markedly ser- 

 rated, very slightly spiny, and of the softest 

 silvery green. 



A WONDERFUL JAPANESE RADISH 



Nothing gave us such real satisfaction as 

 this visitor from Japan. Picture to yourself 

 a pure white radish the size of a baseball or 

 larger, firm and solid. Cut it, and you find 

 it has the consistency of a Baldwin apple, 

 firm and fine of grain; taste, and it proves 

 to be away ahead of the most delicate spring 

 radish that ever passed your lips. It will 

 thrive at any season during the growing year; 

 it may be transplanted or left alone; cul- 



tivated or uncultivated; it is as good to eat 

 when in bloom as in its younger days; and 

 one radish will provide bulk enough for three 

 or four people. Need I say more ? 



To begin with, the seed catalogue con- 

 tradicted itself flatly when it said "Raise as 

 the ordinary radish," and in the next breath, 

 "They weigh, when ripe, thirty pounds 

 each." Any one knows you could not raise 

 a mammoth thirty-pound radish in the same 

 space required for a dainty little French 

 breakfast one. 



As usual, we took chances, banking on the 

 old reliable mainstay, common sense, and so 

 the seeds were sown April 21st one-half an 

 inch deep, and the leaves appeared above the 



surface in seven days. I suppose it knew that 

 it had to hurry to collect all that catalogued 

 weight in one summer. In three days I 

 thinned them to two inches, leaving the 

 finest plants. A second sowing gave excel- 

 lent roots on October 30th, two being enough 

 for a family of eight. 



SCOLYMUS 



This is the "golden thistle." It grows 

 two and one-half feet high, and has as spiny 

 a top as one could well imagine. It is used 

 in the same way as salsify or scorzonera, 

 but to my taste is not so good. The seed 

 is sown in April in well-dried soil, and 

 the roots are ready for use in September 

 or October, when they may be stored for 

 use during the winter. These roots are a 

 foot long, branched and massive, and 

 measure an inch in diameter. 



UDO, A NEW SALAD 



Among the rare salads is udo, of which 

 there are two varieties, Kan and Mayashi, 



292. The best new acquaintance was the Japanese radish SaKurajima, grown just liKe an ordinary radish. 

 Two roots sufficed for a family of eight. It endures hot weather. May weigh a pound 



293. Scolymus, or Spanish golden thistle, a substi- 

 tute for scorzonera. Has a root a foot long and one 

 inch across. The top is spiny and can't be handled 



the latter being a forced variety. The seed 

 of Kan udo is sown broadcast in seed beds 

 in March or April, and the following year 

 the seedlings are taken up and set in rows, 

 two feet apart and ten inches from plant to 

 plant. When the leaves begin to turn brown 

 in September, they are all cut off, and earth 

 is piled to the depth of two feet over the 

 roots. In about forty days, shoots will ap- 

 pear at the top of the mound, and these are 

 cut close to the root just as you would cut 

 asparagus. A second crop of shoots then 

 comes up, and sometimes a third. In spring 

 this is levelled off and a dressing of manure 

 is applied. In September the leaves are 

 again cut down. In this way the roots last 

 ten years. The stalks are served like celery 

 salad. 



Moyashi is grown from root cuttings. 

 Cultivated well all summer, they are ready 

 to take up in October, when all the dry 

 stems should be removed, and the plants put 

 away in straw until wanted for use. 



