ORACH. 



155 



from four or five inches long, are tlie parts in use, and are 

 very delicate and much esteemed, though not very nutri- 

 cious. They are excellent simply boiled, or as an addi- 

 tion to soups when in season. 



To cook Asparagus, — Select the large green stalks, wash 

 them carefully, tie in bundles of twenty or thirty, put 

 them into boiling water with plenty of salt ; boil slowly 

 twenty minutes ; take them up with a skimmer without 

 draining, and lay them upon toasted bread well but- 

 tered. 



Another mode is to cut it into bits half an inch long, 

 and boil the lower ends ten minutes before the points are 

 put in ; then put in the points and boil ten minutes more ; 

 serve as above. 



Atriplex Hortensis — Orach. 



A hai'dy annual, a native of Tartary first cultivated by 

 English gardeners in 1548. The stem rises three or four 

 feet high with oblong variously-shaped leaves, cut at the 

 edges, thick, pale green, and glaucous, and of slightly acid 

 flavor, flowers of same color as the foliage. There are 

 two varieties, the pale green, and the red or purple 

 leaved. 



Culture. — Orach flourishes best in a rich, moist soil. 

 It is raised from seed sown in drills, fifteen to eighteen 

 inches apart, the first of October. The plants soon make 

 appearance ; when an inch high thin them to four inches 

 asunder. Those removed may be replanted, being watered 

 occasionally until established. Hoe them in a dry day, 

 keeping the ground loose and free from weeds. 



Use. — The leaves and tender stalks are cooked and 

 eaten like spinach, to which it is preferred by ^ many. 

 They must be gathered while young, or they are worthless. 

 It belongs to the chenopods, Jerusalem oak tribe of 



