284 



VEGETABLE AND FRUIT NOTES. 



some few cases there was very slight injury in the use of 

 Bordeaux mixture, eau celeste and modified eau celeste. 

 The plants grown on these plats compared very favor- 

 ably with those in the check plat. The following are the 

 formulas for different fungicides : 



Bordeaux Mixture.— Z:o/ /..• Sulphate of copper, 6 lbs.; slaked 

 lime, 4 lbs.; water, 22 gals. Lot II.: Half the strength. Lot III.. 

 Double the strength of Lot I. 



Eau Celeste.— j!:o/ /..■ Sulphate of copper, 2 lbs.; ammonia, 25^ 

 pts.; water 24 gals.; Lot II.: Half the strength; Lot III.: Double 

 the strength of Lot 1. 



Modified Eau Celeste.— Zo/ /..• Sulphate of copper, 2 lbs.; car- 

 bonate of copper, lbs.; ammonia, i^4 pts.; water 24 gals. Lot II.: 

 Half the strength of Lot I. Lot III: double the strength of Lot I. 



From these experiments, although not final, I think we 

 may safely conclude that ammoniacal carbonate of cop- 

 per should be used with some caution. With the other 

 fungicides there was little resultant injury ; yet even these 

 might with some advantage be used in a more 4'ltited 

 form, since copper salts have proved effective in dilute 

 solutions, 



loiva Agricultural College. L. H. Pammel. 



[Similar tests have been or are being made by other stations. 

 Thus far they have failed to convince us that there is any cause for 

 alarm, or any necessity of particular caution in the use of these 

 fungicides on the grounds mentioned. — Ed. A. G.] 



VEGETABLE AND FRUIT NOTES. 



SUGGESTIONS BY WIDE-AWAKE GARDENERS. 



■JUKING the spring of 1888 the 

 I chorogi was introduced into th i 

 * country under two names 

 I Stachys ajfinis and S. tiiberi- 

 j /era. In i8go, Hemsley, writ- 

 ing of the botany of China, deter- 

 mined that the proper name of 

 the plant is Stachys Sieboldi 

 (of Miquel). It still remains to 

 determine upon a good English name for the plant. 

 Many names have been proposed, as: Chinese artichoke, 

 Japanese artichoke, knotroot, curlroot and spirals, all 

 of which are more or less objectionable if the plant is 

 ever to assume any importance in trade. A Latin name 

 would hinder the popularizing of the plant. The sim- 

 ple generic name stachys might lead to confusion, as 

 other species may come into cultivation. I have ven- 

 tured to use the Japanese name chorogi. This name has 

 been suggested in English journals, but does not seem to 

 have been adopted by any writer. 



Chorogi is a small perennial plant, having the aspect 

 of peppermint or spearmint. It belongs to the mint 

 family, and to a genus (stachys) which is well repre- 

 sented in this country. In fact, there is some doubt 

 among botanists as to whether it is really distinct from 

 a common wild stachys (S. falustris) which grows 

 in wet places over a large part of North America. Its 

 value to the gardener lies in the great number of crisp 

 white tubers which it produces just under the ground. 

 These tubers are thickened underground stems, like those 

 of the potato. The illustration (page 285) shows a plant 

 as it appears in November, after digging, with the earth 

 washed from its roots. The detached tuber is full size, 

 and represents an average specimen as grown in naturally 

 poor but well-enriched sandy soil. Although the tubers 

 are small, they are so abundantly produced as to make 

 the plant a heavy yielder. We imported tubers in the 

 winter of i88g-go. They were in poor condition when 

 planted, and the growth for 1890 was small. The plants 

 were allowed to remain without protection during the 

 winter, and this year they have spread so as to fill a row 



a foot and a half wide, and have produced a great num- 

 ber of tubers. 



We have eaten the tubers in several ways, and I do 

 not hesitate to pronounce the plant the most important 

 acquisition to our list of secondary vegetables that has 

 been made in several years. The tubers can be cooked 

 in a great variety of ways, or may be eaten raw. They 

 are fried, roasted, baked, pickled, preserved, stewed in 

 cream, and made into various fancy dishes. They may 

 be dug as wanted in the winter, and ordinarily enough of 

 the plant will be left in the ground for propagation 

 the following year. The greatest fault with the vegetable 

 is the fact that the tubers shrivel and spoil if exposed to 

 the air for a few hours. This will interfere with their 

 market qualities. They can be kept in earth, however, 

 and the French market them in moist shavings or in saw- 

 dust. Much of their value depends upon their crispness. 



Several chemical analyses made here and in Europe 

 show that the chorogi is esteemed quite as highly as the 

 potato for food and for fertilizing properties. It appears 

 to be safe to recommend the chorogi for trial in every 

 home garden. 



SPANISH SALSIFY. 



A vegetable which promises to be of considerable value 

 in this country, if once generally introduced, is the so- 

 called Spanish salsify (Scolymus Hispaniciis), a native 

 of southern Europe. I have grown this for two years. 

 It makes a root much like salsify, except that it is much 

 lighter colored and considerably longer. Its flavor is less 

 pronounced than that of salsify, but when carefully 

 cooked it possesses a very agreeable quality which is some- 

 what intermediate between that of salsify and pars- 

 nip. It is adapted to all the methods of cooking em- 

 ployed for those vegetables. The particular value of the 

 vegetable, aside from affording a variety in the kitchen 

 garden, is its large size and productiveness as compared 

 with salsify. We raise almost twice the crop upon a 

 given area that we can secure from salsify, and no doubt 

 it could be sold for that vegetable in the general market. 

 The seeds are much easier to handle and sow than those 

 of salsify. It is sown and cultivated in exactly the 



