212 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



December, 1911 



with its peculiar habit of blooming in 

 October regardless of the time when the 

 seed is planted, has restricted its culti- 

 vation to warm climates, but like so many 

 other plants which have yielded to changed 

 conditions would probably adapt itself 

 to the shorter summers of high altitudes. 



Introduced several years ago into Cali- 

 fornia and Florida, the plant deserves 

 wider cultivation than it now enjoys and 

 should prove a valuable acquisition to 

 the warm climate of the Southern States. 

 Its cultivation is so simple and its require- 

 ments so few that it could be in the garden 

 very generally. 



The roselle is probably the only plant 

 in cultivation in which the part utilized 

 for food is the calyx. Of rather low nutri- 

 tive value, the thickened calyx possesses 

 excellent qualities for the manufacture 

 of jellies and allied products. Prepara- 

 tions made from it closely resemble in 

 color and flavor those made from cran- 

 berry, with which its season of maturity 

 also coincides. 



A concern to which some of the jelly 

 was shipped replied as follows: 



"We have received the 'roselle' jelly 

 and jam. The general appearance is 

 certainly like cranberry and we think it 

 would be readily marketed for use with 

 cooked meats. It should also make a 

 fine marmalade." 



One farmer in Bee County, Texas, is 

 growing roselle commercially, in sufficient 

 quantities to supply the townspeople. 



In Queensland, where the culture of 

 the roselle in recent years has assumed fair 

 proportions, the fruit was utilized largely 

 in the manufacture of jam. In the United 

 States its principal use would probably 

 be as a substitute for cranberries. 



It is not a plant that should be attempted 

 further north than North Carolina and 

 reaches its prime in Florida. It grows 

 from seed planted in ordinary soil with- 

 out special care. 



UDO — A JAPANESE VEGETABLE 



A cheaply grown, easily managed vege- 

 table for early spring, which can be grown 



in the United States from Maine to Florida, 

 is udo. It is as commonly known in Japan 

 as celery is in America, but comes into 

 market ahead of the earliest asparagus. 

 Planted in a bed it will yield crops for 

 eight to ten years, producing delicate 

 white shoots that are very appetizing. 



Unexpectedly the plant has proven hardy 

 and vigorous over a wide extent of country 

 reaching as far north as Nova Scotia, and 

 in New England, especially in Maine 

 and Connecticut it has made remarkable 

 growth. At Arlington, Va., plants have 

 made from seed in a single year, a growth 

 of over six feet and a splendid root 

 system. 



Udo differs from asparagus in that 

 while only the tips of asparagus are edible 

 the whole of the long udo shoots are tender 

 and stringless. 



This plant was first introduced as a 

 vegetable in American gardens in 1902 

 and still has prejudices to overcome. 



There are three ways to prepare udo. 

 First, as a soup in which the ends of the 

 shoots are used as celery root is and with 

 the same method of preparation. Second, 

 cooked and served with a white sauce on 

 toast, in the same way that asparagus 

 tips are cooked; and third, sliced thin 

 like shavings, dropped on ice and later 

 seasoned with French dressing. 



The first attempt on a considerable 

 scale to grow this vegetable in America 

 was at Antioch, Cal. It was in the 

 nature of an experiment to see if it 

 was adapted to the muck lands of the 

 Sacramento Valley, upon which immense 

 asparagus plantations had proven success- 

 ful. The experiment was successful. 



SEAKALE 



American tourists returning from Europe 

 and especially England, frequently bring 

 back a taste for this vegetable. It is 

 used in England quite generally, cooked 

 like asparagus and served with white 

 sauce. The flavor is a decided bitter, 

 combined with the pungency of the cab- 

 bage family. 



In growing it requires a little more atten- 

 tion than celery as the fight must be en- 

 tirely excluded to properly blanch, and 

 unless this feature is well attended to the 

 flavor is impaired. It will stand covering 

 entirely with earth. 



The limited extent to which it is used 

 in this country is in the form of a vege- 

 table novelty by those who like some- 

 thing a "little different." Ordinarily well 

 established roots are considered necessary 

 for forcing purposes, as the vegetable is 

 essentially a winter crop; but as Mr. 

 McCollom has already told in The Garden- 

 Magazine it can be had in nine months 

 from seed, and is grown like cabbage up 

 to the blanching and forcing period. 



KOHLRABI 



A vegetable superior to cooked turnips 

 is found in kohlrabi, a small quantity 

 of which is grown in this country. One 

 common mistake is in harvesting it too 

 old. It is best when quite tender and not 

 full grown. If permitted to grow old it 

 becomes woody and stringy. 



The vegetable has the added advan- 

 tage of doing fairly well in a semi-arid 

 country where turnips will not grow at 

 all as it does not require as much moisture. 

 It is a staple that should be added to our 

 present list. 



SWEET GENUA 



PEPPERS 



Peppers are so generally eaten in 

 some form or other in this country 

 that it is strange a larger variety is 

 not grown. 



Among the Italians peppers are much 

 relished raw. Peppers are used by Amer- 

 icans more in the form of salads and cooked 

 stuffed, however. Sweet genua (or, if 

 a more practical name could be applied, 

 they would be known as " fireless peppers ! ") 

 grow medium in size, scarlet in color and 

 can be eaten out of hand, seed and all. 

 They are mild in taste and once tasted 

 are found to be excellent. But few are 

 grown in this country although they are 

 quite popular in France. 









Tubers of dasheens. ready for use. or for storage 



As the roselle grows. The calyx is the useful portion of the plant 



