12 BULLETIN 84. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
he can cut them when only 6 inches long, but if he will wait he will 
be rewarded by getting shoots of somewhat astonishing proportions. 
In point of season the udo crop in the latitude of AVashington 
approaches that of asparagus. It is perhaps a few days earlier 
under the draintiles. If G-inch instead of 18-inch shoots are satis- 
factory, a crop of udo can be taken ten days or two weeks earlier than 
asparagus. 
Just as with asparagus, sea kale, and endive, udo can be forced 
by packing the roots together in a trench over a layer of heating 
manure, but this method makes a very expensive vegetable of it and 
would be resorted to only by the gardeners on large estates. Shoots 
can be produced in this way in March, and doubtless also in Novem- 
ber or December. After the removal of the crop of udo shoots in 
the spring, the crowns of the plants should be completely uncovered 
and the plants allowed to grow normally throughout the summer, 
but they should not be permitted to flower unless seed is required, the 
flower clusters being pinched or cut back as they form. This latter 
is not a necessary precaution, but it tends to throw the growth of 
the plants into the roots and increase the size of the shoots for the 
table the following year. 
PREPARATION FOR THE TABLE. 
The flavor of udo is distinctly aromatic, like celery or parsnip, but 
different from either. "When properly prepared it is one of the most 
delicious of vegetables, but unless properly cooked it is sure to meet 
with ridicule. The reason for this lies in the fact that its stems con- 
tain a resinous substance which gives them a decided flavor of pine 
when tasted raw. There are many people who never get farther than 
this first taste and condemn udo on the spot, forgetting how disagree- 
ably raw vegetables often taste. 
It is a simple culinary practice to boil strong-flavored vegetables 
in two (or even three) waters, and this is advisable as a general 
recommendation, although when used for soup it does not appear 
to be always necessary. An hour's stay in ice water will remove 
this resin from the shoots, provided they are cut into thin slices or 
shavings. 
Little is known regarding the food value of udo further than that 
analyses show it to have about the same dietetic value as celery 
or asparagus. The Chinese, who are prone to ascribe mysterious 
properties to many of their foods, have given to udo, which they 
call Dotooki, Dokii quatz, or Dosjen, medicinal properties which are 
more curious than probable. 
