20. THREE NEW PLANT. INTRODUCTIONS. 
shoots appear above the mound and are cut, like asparagus, by digging 
down to the base or by inserting a long knife into the mound. 
By preparing a series of forcing trenches and planting them at dif- 
ferent times, fresh shoots of the moyashi udo can be had all winter 
long, from November until the beginning of May. 
At the close of the forcing season the rootstocks are taken from the 
trench, planted out in rows, manured heavily, allowed to grow all 
summer, and forced again the following winter. These same roots 
are used for several years. (See Pl. V, figs. 1, 2, and 3.) 
Although cheaper than the kan udo, this forcing variety will prob- 
ably be better suited to our American conditions, for it yields shoots 
throughout the winter, while the other sort produces them only in> 
October and November. The mild winters in Japan make these fore- 
ing beds in the open ground possible, and it is probable that as far 
north as Norfolk, Va., the culture of udo in a similar way could be ear- 
ried on; 1f not, certainly Florida and California truck growers could 
cultivate the plant. The kan udo might be grown even farther north 
where the ground does not freeze until after the last of November. 
WASABI, THE HORSE-RADISH OF THE JAPANESE. 
INTRODUCTION. 
There is a fresh sharpness about Japanese wasabi that not even the 
finest Austrian sorts of horse-radish possess. The color, too, is not 
generally white, but a delicate shade of green, and although served 
much in the same way that horse-radish is served in America, it is 
quite a different thing. 3 
The roots, which are grated up to prepare this Japanese appetizer, 
are produced by a plant of the same family as the true horse-radish 
and the mustard, and botanists give it the name of Eutrema wasabi. 
(Pl. VI., figs. 1 and 2.) 
To anyone fond of such things this Japanese horse-radish will prove 
an acceptable novelty, and it is with the object of acclimatizing wasabi. 
in America that a few young plants have been secured and will be 
propagated and tested in the trial gardens of the Department of 
Agriculture. 
In Japan grated wasabi is a constant accompaniment to the raw 
fish which forms such a prominent part of a Japanese meal. Without 
it the fish would taste as unnatural to a diner as blue-point oysters on 
the half-shell without horse-radish would taste to the average Amer- 
ican. Wasabi is, in fact, universally used in the inns and tea houses 
of the country. 
The wasabi plant is a peculiar one to cultivate, and there are certain 
localities in Japan where it is grown, notably in the region about 
Hiroshima. It is popularly believed that the culture must be carried 
