74 BULLETIN 123, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
well as winter squashes? Most of those in the markets now are over- 
grown. Asparagus 8 or 10 inches long is less desirable than if it 
had been cut a day earlier at half the length. The custom of keep- 
ing asparagus fresh in water Increases its weight by absorption of 
water, but causes loss of nitrogenous and mineral matter. Celery 
should not have its roots spoiled by nails or its stalks bound with 
colored strings. 
The medicinal qualities of vegetables need fuller investigation. 
Money spent for scientific research in establishing or refuting tradi-. 
tional and popular ideas about the effects of celery in rheumatism, 
onions for sleeplessness, etc., should give good returns. Probably 
in most cases green vegetables and salad plants would prove more 
useful than “ spring medicine,” in which so many have faith. 
There are times when it is justifiable to pay a larger price for a 
food than its actual nutritive value seems to warrant, because its 
attractive appearance and flavor will make palatable the more 
familiar and less costly foods. 
The wise buyer knows the nature of each article so well that when 
strict economy is practiced decayed vegetables are refused, while 
those only shghtly withered but so unattractive as to be low priced 
are secured and promptly freshened. 
The prices of vegetables in city markets seem exorbitant to those 
who have never had to pay cash for such products, and make the 
advantages of the home garden more fully appreciated. Too often 
in the country the garden is neglected that “ money crops” may have 
more attention because its economic value is not recognized. If a 
garden plat is intelligently arranged and its products are properly 
prepared for the table, it often yields more profit than any cor- 
responding area on a farm. Many a small garden, a quarter acre or 
even less, wisely arranged will bring to the family table more food 
than could be secured by any similar expenditure of money and labor. 
At the present time the list of vegetables which may be easily 
grown is a long one and is being added to as new plants are found 
or new varieties produced. Some of the novel plants recently 
brought to this country for experiment by the Department of Agri- 
culture are the “udo,” a salad plant from Japan, Hungarian pap- 
rika, the dasheen, and the adsuki bean. 
The future, judging from the recent past, will give increased facil- 
ities for the preservation and transportation of all types of vege- 
table products from every part of the world. Many plants now little 
known will be studied, improved, and made available. Fewer seeds 
and less cellulose or fiber will remain in many of the plants now in 
common use. There will very likely be greater concentration of the 
valuable constituents of such foods for convenience in transportation 
and preservation, but none of the improvements are likely to change 
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