18 THREE NEW PLANT INTRODUCTIONS. 
taste, like the midrib of a lettuce leaf, with a slight but most agree- 
able suggestion of pine flavor. The tenderest young shoots of celery 
could not be more brittle than these blanched stems of udo. 
From the 1st of October until the middle of May this vegetable is 
for sale in the markets of Japan, and in this winter character, aside 
from its being an excellent salad, les its great value. It is compar- 
atively cheap and is eaten by the poor Japanese as well as by the rich. 
From its adaptability to winter culture and its excellent quality, this 
plant deserves to become as well known as asparagus or celery. 
Botanically the plant is known as Aralia cordata Thunb. It has been 
recognized as an ornamental plant in Europe and America, where its 
large, sharply lobed, regular leaves have been highly prized for their 
decorative effects. (See Pl. 1V.) The edible portions of the plant are 
its young shoots, which are blanched by being covered with earth. 
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 differently cultivated. 
Through the assistance of Mr. H. Suzuki, of the Yokohama Nur- 
sery Company, I was able to learn from the growers of this vegetable 
how it should be cultivated. Its cultivation is not difficult and will be 
easily understood by anyone acquainted with the ordinary methods of 
forcing asparagus. 
THE CULTIVATION OF KAN UDO. 
The seeds of this variety are sown broadcast in seed beds, prepared 
of rich garden earth, in the month of March or April, and are allowed 
to grow there 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 2 feet apart and 10 inches from each other in the rows. In 
these rows they are cultivated all summer, or until September, when 
the leaves begin to turn brown. The stems are then cut back close 
to the rootstocks and the earth is piled up ina mound 2 feet high 
above the latter. In 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 and the marketable shoots cut. Each rootstock produces 
about five of these blanched shoots, three of which are probably fit 
for the market at the first cutting, early in October. The remaining 
small shoots are covered up again and allowed to grow for a second 
cutting a week or so later. In removing these shoots for market 
care is taken to cut close to their bases, so as not to leave stubs, as the 
presence of the latter is said to prevent the rapid growth of the 
remaining young shoots. 
Generally only two crops of shoots are secured of the kan udo, but 
