Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
August,  1897.  J 
Burdock  as  a  Vegetable. 
419 
place  in  the  province  of  Shimosa,  where  they  produce  only  about 
2,000  roots  a  year,  attains  the  huge  size  of  1  y2  feet  in  circumference, 
and  2y2  feet  in  length ;  this  kind  is  sold  at  the  rate  of  about  20  sen 
(a  sen  being  a  hundredth  part  of  a  Japanese  dollar)  apiece.  In  its 
form  this  variety  is  like  the  beet.  The  two  kinds  most  popular  in 
the  markets  of  Kyoto  are  the  Yamato  and  the  Horikawa  ;  in  fact, 
these  seem  to  be  only  different  names  of  the  same  variety. 
In  raising  Lappa  much  attention  is  naturally  devoted  to  the  right 
selection  of  the  soil.  It  is  a  common  belief  among  cultivators  that 
that  a  light  sandy  soil  is  specially  adapted  to  it,  and  it  is  true  that 
roots  grown  from  such  soil  are  long  and  slender,  but  they  are  prone 
to  be  hollow  at  the  centre  and  rather  tough  at  the  rind.  A  stronger 
and  deeper  soil,  say  clayey  loam,  seems  to  impart  firmness  to  the 
root  and  a  better  flavor.  To  gain  the  most  satisfactory  results,  the 
soil  must  be  plowed  deep  and  finely  pulverized,  or  else  an  undue 
amount  of  labor  will  be  required  in  harvesting  the  roots.  Indeed, 
digging  burdock  is  a  proverbially  hard  task  ;  it  has  become  almost 
a  fine  art  to  do  it  well.  Many  an  old  writer  recommends  digging 
the  soil  to  the  depth  of  some  4  or  5  feet,  and  then  putting  in  green 
leaves,  stalks,  turf,  and  so  forth,  in  a  layer  a  foot  deep,  and  cover- 
ing that  with  the  earth  that  was  excavated.  The  surface  must 
then  be  well  hoed  in  both  directions.  So  much  care,  however,  is 
only  necessary  when  exceptionally  fine  specimens,  for  show  or 
otherwise,  are  aimed  at.  One  peculiarity  of  Lappa  is  that  it  is  not 
adapted  to  rotation  ;  that  is,  it  thrives  better  if  planted  continuously 
on  the  same  soil ;  in  new  land  the  roots  are  likely  to  become  forked. 
It  is  also  grateful  for  good  manures — compost,  night-soil,  and  espe- 
cially to  rice-bran — but  if  compost  is  applied  it  must  be  well  decom- 
posed, or  else  the  roots  will  throw  off  too  many  branches. 
When  the  soil  is  properly  prepared  seeds  are  planted  in  rows  3 
feet  apart,  five  or  six  seeds  being  placed  every  6  to  8  inches  in  a 
row.  In  Owura,  the  usual  time  for  sowing  is  the  early  part  of  May 
or  late  in  April.  Before  the  early  part  of  June  the  young  plants 
are  thinned  out,  leaving  but  one  in  the  hill.  Very  often  liquid 
manure  is  applied  two  or  three  times  before  the  roots  are  harvested 
late  in  December.  Another  method  is  to  plant  the  seeds  in  Au- 
gust, so  as  to  have  the  vegetable  ready  for  spring  use,  in  which  case 
they  are  sown  more  closely,  since  they  do  not  grow  as  vigorously  as 
those  planted  in  spring:    Lappa  is  a  slow  grower,  and  takes  over 
