LITTLE KNOWN VEGETABLES 



249 



Giant. Of course, following these crops, come the early let- 

 tuce (May King doing best for us), radish and endive. We 

 plant all varieties of radish, but we prefer the white curled 

 endive, which is really a narrow-leaved, bitter lettuce, al- 

 though American commission men mix it up badly with 

 Batavian broad-leaved endive and call it all escarolle or 

 scarolle, and other weird names. 



From these on, of course, we have all the regulation veget- 

 ables, early sweet com being a best seller and best exemplified 

 as far as real earliness and sweetness is concerned by Gol- 

 den Bantam. Early potatoes are another big income yielder 

 for us, and while we have tried Early Ohio and all the other 

 early strains, the only real early one we have been able to 

 find is Quick Lunch, not a heavy yielder in quantity, but 

 a very handsome paying item. Through the season, the best 

 American eggplant we have had is the Black Beauty. The 

 English Long Purple, however, is superior to any other 

 variety we know in many ways. In yield it far exceeds any 

 other strain. In flavor, delicacy and shape it is superior^ 

 and it will crowd out the big round eggs as soon as introduced. 

 Globe artichoke, now mainly imported from Europe or from 

 California, is one of the thistle family which blooms the 

 second year, and it is the bloom bud which brings the money. 

 Like chrysanthemums, to raise big ones it should be disbud- 

 ed, leaving but one bud to the stalk. French Green is the 

 most delicate. 



Pe-tsai we have raised for eleven years. It is the most 

 delicate of the cabbage family. It comes from China, will 

 stand hot weather, is always blanched, makes a fine salad and 

 the best cole-slaw obtainable. It also stands considerable 

 cold, so can be raised for fall salad. Lately it created a con- 

 siderable furor under the name of celery-salad, which is a 

 bad name in every way, as it has nothing of the celery flavor, 

 looks nothing like it and can't be eaten with any degree of 

 joy as celery is, but must be served, if served raw, with 

 sauces or salad dressings. The famous Long Green Eng- 

 lish cucumbers, we have found, do magnificently in the open, 

 although in England they are raised only under glass houses. 

 Its sm-oothness, great length and delicacy make it a valuable 



