Udo, A New Winter Salad —By Charles A. Sidman, 
Washing- 
ton, D.C, 
AN EASILY GROWN CROP THAT MAY BE FORCED IN THE OPEN LIKE ASPARAGUS 
OR RHUBARB—GIVES CRISP STALKS LIKE CELERY, WITH A PINE-LIKE FLAVOR — 
A POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTE FOR LETTUCE AND ENDIVE FROM OCTOBER TO MARCH 
A FEW years ago, through: the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, a few plants of 
a new salad plant, udo, were brought over 
from Japan. This has now been fairly 
tried in several sections and although it can 
never rival good hothouse lettuce or endive 
as a winter salad, yet it is regarded by 
some as a welcome change. Udo has a 
peculiar flavor, suggestive of pineapple. 
The tenderest young shoots of celery are 
not more brittle than these blanched stems 
of udo, and they have a crisp freshness like 
that of the midrib of a lettuce leaf. 
As served in Oriental style, udo is a mass 
of thick, white shavings, two to three inches 
long by half an inch wide, having a brilliant, 
silky lustre. In the tea houses all over 
Japan it is served either fresh or boiled with 
a Soy sauce. It would not be likely to 
attract attention eaten as it is served by the 
Japanese, unless one were in search of 
peculiar dishes. The slices are crisper 
than celery and have none of the objection- 
able stringy fibres often found in that. 
The best method of preparing the udo for 
the American table is to cut the shoots into 
long, thin shavings, allow them to stand in 
ice water for several hours, then putting 
them into a salad bowl and pouring on 
a dressing, prepared in the usual way. 
There are two varieties of udo, called 
respectively, “kan udo” and ‘‘moyashi udo,”’ 
and these, though of similar appearance as 
they are placed on the market, are quite 
different as regards their cultivation; but 
either one is easily handled and should be 
given a trial by those who like something 
different from what other people have. 
‘Moyashi udo is the better suited to our 
American conditions, for it yields through- 
out the winter, while the kan udo only 
sSeaaae, | 
One year old udo plant grown from seed, It is 
six feet tall 
Blanched shoot of udo ready for cooking just like 
asparagus or can be used for salad 
produces in October and November or in 
the early spring. It has been grown as far 
north as Nova Scotia, and as far south as 
the Gulf of Mexico. 
The moyashi or forcing udo is grown 
from root cuttings, which have been cut 
from large plants the year before, being 
dug in November and kept all winter 
packed in straw. In the spring the cuttings 
are laid lengthwise in a shallow trench 
about four inches apart, and in the space 
between them a small quantity of rich 
manure is placed. They are then covered 
with an inch or so of soil. As the leaves 
appear, the trench is gradually filled about 
their bases, cultivation is carried on to keep 
_This is what a udo plant looks like in the spring. 
Note the young blanched shoots 
129 
down the weeds, and the plants are allowed 
to grow until the end of October, or until 
frost. 
These two-year plants are then dug, the 
dead stems removed, and the plants packed 
away in a dry place until wanted for the 
forcing bed which may be in a cellar, or 
under the greenhouse bench, just as for rhu- 
barb or asparagus. They can be kept in 
this dry condition for several months without 
injury. 
When forcing begins the dry sets are 
packed as closely together as they can stand 
in the bottom of the trench, which is filled 
in and heaped up with a light garden soil. 
In about fifty days the first shoots appear 
above the mound and are cut, like asparagus, 
by digging down to the base or by running 
a long knife into the mound. 
By preparing a series of forcing trenches 
and planting them at different times, fresh 
shoots can be had all winter long, from 
November until the following May. 
The kan udo is grown from seed, which 
is broadcast in seed beds, prepared of rich 
garden earth in the month of March or April, 
and is allowed to grow for one year. The 
following spring the individual seedlings are 
transplanted from this seed bed, after the 
tops, which have died during the winter, 
have been removed, and they are then set 
in rows two feet apart and ten inches from 
each other in the rows. In these rows they 
are cultivated until September, when the 
leaves begin to turn brown. The stems 
are then cut back close to the root and the 
earth piled over them in a mound two feet 
high. In about forty days the new shoots, 
which begin to form as soon as the old ones 
have been cut back, appear above the surface 
of the mound. They are then ready for 
cutting, and the mound is opened. Each 
rootstock produces about five of these 
These were 
Udo plants in a Virginian garden. 
raised from seed sown in the open 
