DASHEEN 
A Delicious Vegetable and Ornamental 
Foliage Plant 
Large Tuberous Roots Used Like Potatoes, Blanched Stems 
Like Asparagus, and the Leaves Used for Greens. Large 
Tropical-like Ornamental Foliage Similar to the Popular Ele¬ 
phant’s Ear Caladium. 
The Dasheen is popular in various parts of Europe and 
Asia, where it is grown principally as a root crop, the tubers 
being used the same as potatoes. The tubers sometimes reach 
a weight of more than 6 pounds each. One hill will produce 
on good rich soil 6 to 8 pounds or more of tubers, and in rare 
instances 20 to 26 pounds of Dasheens have been taken from 
a single hill. Crops of 600 to 900 bushels per acre have been 
produced. 
The U. S. Department of Agriculture report 1,400 bushels 
from less than 5 acres in Florida, and on their different ex¬ 
perimental grounds have secured yields of 450 bushels to the 
acre. 
The Country Gentleman” published the following regard¬ 
ing it: “Not only does the Dasheen promise well as a market 
crop once the public generally has recognized its merits, but 
in the meantime it is capable of furnishing food for home 
consumption. Its food value is higher than the potato, and 
about fifty per cent more protein and fifty per cent more 
starch. The flavor of the Dasheen is decidedly richer and 
more tempting than that of the potato.” 
Land that is too wet for ordinary crops can be used to 
advantage in growing Dasheens. They can be grown on lands 
that are subject to short overflows that would ruin most other 
crops, thus making much land available for food crops that 
is now considered worthless. They may also be successfully grown in hot, dry regions as has been demon¬ 
strated by tests in Arizona and in the desert regions of Southern California. 
The Dasheen can be used in almost any way that Irish Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes can be used. They are 
excellent when baked, boiled, fried, creamed, stuffed, meat filled or scalloped, and for Saratoga Dasheen Chips 
and Fritters they are delicious. 
Dasheen crisps, made from raw Dasheen with a fluted vegetable slicer and fried in deep fat, are declared by some epicures to be 
the most delicious of all Dasheen dishes. The delicate, nutty flavor of the Dasheen is accentuated by this method of preparation. 
As a filling for fowl and other meats the Dasheen can hardly be surpassed. Served au gratin, that is, cooked with grated cheese, 
it is equal to any similar dish. It makes a delicious salad and may be French fried or German fried like potatoes. 
The young leaves of the Dasheen make excellent greens, used like Spinach. 
The stems, when grown under a box or barrel, so as to be blanched, are equal to Asparagus, and 5 to 8 crops of these shoots can 
be harvested. The Department of Agriculture says: ‘'The shoots are very tender and have a delicate flavor, suggestive of mush¬ 
rooms. There are probably few plants so well suited for forcing purposes as the Dasheen.” First cutting can be made in about 
35 days after tubers are set in ground, and subsequent ones at intervals of 10 to 14 days. 
Dasheens require a rather long growing season in order to produce large size tubers, so planting should be done as early in the 
spring as conditions of soil and climate will permit. For field culture the tubers are planted singly and entire, not more than 2 to 3 
inches deep in hills 3 feet apart, the distance between rows being 4 feet. This will permit horse cultivation. In cultivating, the 
soil should be gradually drawn to the plants and the ground kept free from weeds, but require little cultivation after large enough 
to shade the ground. For ornamental purposes, they produce a gorgeous effect when planted with Cannas or used in the shrubbery 
or perennial border. 
In growing Dasheens there seems to be no disease or insect enemy to contend with, as there is in growing potatoes. No dreaded 
potato bugs to be poisoned; no rot, scab, blight, mildew or other trouble. 
While we do not recommend the Dasheen as a root crop in Northern sections where the season is short, we surely consider it 
worthy of a place in every garden. If you live in a locality where the growing season is not long enough to mature a satisfactory 
crop of tubers, the blanched asparagus-like 
stems and spinach-like leaves alone will many 
times repay you for the small garden space 
occupied by a few hills of Dasheens. If you 
haven’t the room in your garden to give them a 
trial, you can at least plant a few for orna¬ 
mental purposes and at the same time find out 
what the people in other parts of the world 
raise for food. In addition to being one of the 
finest vegetables, you will also find them one 
of the most showy ornamental foliage plants, 
the leaves resembling closely the Caladium 
Esculentum, or Elephant’s Ear. As our stock 
of tubers is limited, we recommend that you 
send your order early. 
Choice seed tubers, 3 for 40c; 6 for 
75c; 12 for $1.25; 25 for $2.00; 50 for 
$3.75; 100 for $7.00, delivered to you 
prepaid. Pamphlet giving cultural di¬ 
rections and recipes for preparing and 
cooking the Dasheen free with each 
order. 
BURGESS SEED & PLANT CO., Galesburg, Michigan 
TWENTY-THREE POUNDS OF DASHEENS FROM ONE HILL 
In the center are five marketable tubers, having a total weight of 11% pounds. 
At the left are eight first-grade tubers, which weighed 2y 2 pounds, making a total 
of 14% pounds of first grade marketable Dasheens. In the pile of tubers on the 
right some are of size and shape good enough to be classed as second-grade for 
market. The remainder are suitable for home table use, for seed, or for stock feed. 
A 5-Lb. Dasheen Tuber 
17 
