CHINESE PE-TSAI, THE SALAD MOGUL 
A. B. STOUT 
Director of Laboratories, N. Y. Botanical Garden 
Growing at Last in Popular Favor Is This Gigantic Oriental Which, Though 
Still Unknown to Many, Has Long Been a Full Citizen in Other Gardens 
I ■ tROM the viewpoint of the gardener, the proper proof 
I— of a salad plant may well be in the successful growing; 
| but his wife, the other members of the household, and 
the occasional guest will hold that the real proof is in the 
eating. Yet these two tests are closely related. The gardener 
must for example, learn how to grow Lettuce and Celery, since 
the table quality of the plants is more or less modified by the 
way they are grown; but nevertheless it is the inherent individual 
characteristics that give 
to each its cultural needs 
and its distinctive merits 
as a food. 
Considered by both 
these tests, the Chinese 
Pe-tsai is a salad or leafy 
vegetable whose merits 
entitle it to a prominent 
place in our vegetable 
gardens. When its cul- 
tural needs are under- 
stood and met, it is as 
easily grown as Lettuce, 
and there are indeed few 
persons fond of salads, 
who do not acclaim it 
upon first trial as the 
aristocrat of its class. 1 n 
its general habit of 
growth Pe-tsai is some- 
what like Cos Lettuce, 
but the “ head ” of leaves 
in most varieties is much 
larger and more compact 
and the inner portion 
is more completely 
blanched. 
The thick fleshy mid- 
ribs of the leaves are 
juicy, tender and brittle 
like the best of Celery. 
The leaves of the inner portion of the head are more crisp, 
more tender, and have more body or substance than the best 
of Lettuce. The taste is sweet, with a mild and agreeable flavor 
characteristic of the most delicious of tender young Turnips. 
The term “Cabbage” often applied to the Pe-tsai is indeed a 
decided misnomer: the plant differs from head Cabbage in 
texture, in flavor, and in palatability— and presumably also in 
digestibility. In fact, Pe-tsai is more closely related to the 
Turnip than to the Cabbage, and may well be called a Tur- 
nip that runs to a head of leaves instead of producing a fleshy 
root. And it is an annual instead of a biennial. As a salad 
the only plant that rivals it in excellence and delicacy is the 
Witloof Chicory (commonly called French Endive). 
The inner half or two-thirds of a head of Pe-tsai, such as is 
shown in the illustration, is naturally well self-blanched and can 
be served as a salad alone, or in combination with other vege- 
tables. This portion may be chopped fine and served as a cole- 
slaw. The entire head and especially the outer leaves may be 
cut in pieces, cooked, and served with a cream sauce. The 
fleshy midribs of the larger leaves may be prepared and served 
368 
in the manner of Asparagus, and the plants may be cut at any 
stage of their growth for use as pot greens quite as Spinach is 
used. A considerable portion of the crop now produced com- 
mercially is shipped to the larger cities, where it not only 
supplies the Chinese markets but is rapidly finding its way 
into more general sale. 
Without doubt the main crop of Pe-tsai will continue to be 
grown in autumn from seed sown directly in the field during late 
July or in August. How- 
ever, the home gardener 
may find it an advantage 
to employ the trans- 
planting method for the 
autumn crop. Seedlings 
started in pots can easily 
be given partial shade 
and supplied with water 
during the heat of 
August, thus providing 
more fully conditions 
that are neces'sary for 
rapid growth. When 
handled in this manner 
plants of a fall crop begin 
to reach maturity in 60 
days from seed. There 
is little danger of “over 
planting” the fall crop, 
as the cool weather which 
then prevails promotes 
the keeping quality of 
the heads and plants may 
be left standing until 
after the first frosts. In- 
deed, rather severe freez- 
ing does not noticeably 
impair the eating qual- 
ity, but frozen plants 
shrivel and dry out if ex- 
posed to the dessicating 
effects of winds and sunlight, and this spoils their flavor. 
The mature heads may be pulled after the first light frosts and 
stored in a cool cellar. They may be placed in layers in straw 
and covered with sand, as is practised in the storing of various 
vegetables in outside pits; they may be stood upright in a cold- 
frame and packed and covered with leaves or straw; or they may 
be left standing in the garden if protected by leaves or straw. 
With the advent of cold weather a banking of earth may be 
added. In my own garden (in the suburbs of New York City), 
heads of a fall crop were kept in the manner last mentioned until 
New Year’s day, 1919, when the last head was used. Heads 
packed in straw just before hard frosts early in November have 
kept well in a coldframe until February. 
Numerous strains or races of the Pe-tsai are already known in 
America and show differences in time of maturing. Certain 
varieties produce small heads not much larger than Cos Lettuce. 
Other sorts, which are reported to be somewhat like Spinach in 
habit of growth, are suited to late autumn and winter cropping in 
sections where the winters are mild. Like most plants which 
are grown for their leaves the Pe-tsai flourishes best during cool 
A SALAD FOR A FAMILY 
Truly a giant in comparison with the average head of lettuce and 
yet it is practically as easy to grow and will mature in 90 days 
