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Vegetable Oyster—Summer Savory—Spiiiage—Squash—Tomato. 
The plants intended to be kept over the winter 
must finally be left at the distance of two feet 
each way. These may stand through the win¬ 
ter, covered with straw or other litter, or they 
may be taken up and put into the cellar. After 
the first year they will grow and bear seed a 
number of years in succession; but new seed 
should be sown once in three or four years, as 
young roots produce the most thrifty shoots. 
The leaves that are preserved for use, may be 
collected and dried, and packed away for future 
use. Botanists press them into hard packages 
and put them up in papers for market. 
Salsify or Vegetable Oyster.— This 
vegetable, in appearance, resembles a small 
parsnep; it is raised annually from the seed, 
and may be cultivated in the same manner as 
parsneps or carrots, and is as easily raised. 
It is a vegetable highly esteemed by those 
best acquainted with it. 
There are various modes of dressing and 
cooking this vegetable. It is very excellent 
boiled and mashed up like squash or turnep, 
with a little salt and butter. Some make soup 
of it; in that case it should be mashed fine in 
order to thicken and increase the flavor of the 
soup. Others prefer it parboiled, and then sliced 
up and fried in batter, or without. A writer in 
the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, ob¬ 
serves that “ In its taste it so strongly resembles 
the oyster, that when sliced and fried in batter, 
it can hardly be distinguished from it;” and 
adds, “ If your gardeners would introduce it into 
market, and our citizens once try it, there would 
be no danger of its ever failing hereafter to be 
raised. It is in eating from November to May 
precisely the period in which our vegetable 
market is most deficient in variety.” 
Summer Savory. —This plant will grow in 
almost any soil. It may be sown in drills about 
twelve or fourteen inches apart, so as to pass a 
hoe freely between the rows. Let it be kept 
clean from weeds, and if it comes up too thick, 
let it be gradually thinned out as it is wanted 
for use, and it will not require any further 
trouble. To dry it for winter use, it should be 
cut when in blossom, and spread on the floor of 
an upper room, or garret, where it can have 
air, and not be exposed to the sun. When it is 
sufficiently dry, tie it up in bunches and wrap 
it in paper, or put it away in clean bags for fu¬ 
ture use. 
Spinach or Spinage.- The round leaf 
spinage, which is the only kind we raise, may 
be sown in April. It requires but little space 
in a family garden; one row of a suitable length, 
on the border of a garden, or beside the alley 
will suffice; but the value of the plant for 
greens depends much on the richness of the soil. 
It requires some attention while young to keep | 
it clean from weeds ; and if the weather be dry 
it will need frequent watering. 
Squash. —-Squashes require to be treated 
much after the manner of melons and cucum¬ 
bers. The Lima Cocoanut, or Valparaiso 
squash , as called by some, should be planted 
early, on a rich, warm soil, as it requires the 
whole season to come to maturity. This and 
the Winter Crook-neck , as they produce run¬ 
ning vines, require to be planted in hills at the 
distance of six or eight feet, but before they be¬ 
gin to run, the weakest plants should be taken 
out, leaving not more than two in a hill. The 
Summer Crook-neck and the Summer Scollop , 
being what are called bush squashes , as they 
have no running vines, may be planted in hills 
about four feet apart, each way. These must 
be cooked while young and the skin tender, as 
they are unfit for the table after they begin to 
be hard. The Summer Crook-neck is esteemed 
as the richest and best summer squash we culti¬ 
vate ; but it is not so productive as the Summer 
Scollop. The Lima Cocoanut , when baked in 
the oven, is considered by some equal to the 
Carolina Potatoe , to which it bears a near 
resemblance. 
Tomato. —This plant while growing has 
somewhat the appearance of a hill of potatoes 
growing in the garden. It is a South Ameri¬ 
can plant, and bears its fruit on the branches, 
much resembling the squash pepper. We shall 
notice but two kinds, the large and small, oi 
which there is no material difference, except in 
the size, and the ripening of the smaller kind a 
little sooner; but the larger kind is generally 
preferred for common use. 
To obtain early fruit, the seed should be sown 
in a hot bed or in boxes of light, loose earth, 
about the middle of March. The bed or boxes 
should be exposed to the rays of the sun as 
much as possible, and be secured from the frost, 
and have a sprinkling of water when the earth 
appears dry. The plants may be carefully re¬ 
moved into the open ground as soon as the sea¬ 
son will permit. They may be set in a row 
along the border of the garden, allowing three 
feet distance between the plants, and be support¬ 
ed by a fence or trellis; or they may be planted 
in rows at four feet distance each way; but in 
this case, care must be taken to keep the bran¬ 
ches from the ground, which may easily be done 
by setting small crotches on each side of the 
rows and laying small poles on them. This 
will preserve the goodness and increase the 
quantity of the fruit. 
Tomatoes may also be brought to perfection 
by sowing the seed in a warm, light soil, about 
the first week in May; and if the situation be 
favorable, with good management, the product 
will be abundant. 
