The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 111

The fruit is sometimes eaten cooked in the manner of the Purple varieties, but is less esteemed.

MARTYNIA.

Unicorn Plant. _Gray._ Martynia proboscidea.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Martynia.]

A hardy, annual plant, with a strong, branching stem two feet and a half or three feet high. The leaves are large, heart-shaped, entire or undulated, downy, viscous, and of a peculiar, musk-like odor when bruised or roughly handled; the flowers are large, bell-shaped, somewhat two-lipped, dull-white, tinged or spotted with yellow and purple, and produced in long, leafless racemes, or cl.u.s.ters; the seed-pods are green, very downy or hairy, fleshy, oval, an inch and a half in their greatest diameter, and taper to a long, comparatively slender, incurved horn, or beak. The fleshy, succulent character of the pods is of short duration: they soon become fibrous, the elongated beak splits at the point, the two parts diverge, the outer green covering falls off, and the pod becomes black, shrivelled, hard, and woody. The seeds are large, black, wrinkled, irregular in form, and retain their germinative properties three years.

_Sowing and Cultivation._--The Martynia is of easy cultivation. As the plants are large and spreading, they should be two feet and a half or three feet apart in each direction. The seeds may be sown in April or May, in the open ground where the plants are to remain; or a few seeds may be sown in a hot-bed, and the seedlings afterwards transplanted.

_Gathering and Use._--The young pods are the parts of the plant used.

These are produced in great abundance, and should be gathered when about half grown, or while tender and succulent: after the hardening of the flesh, they are worthless. They are used for pickling, and by many are considered superior to the Cuc.u.mber, or any other vegetable employed for the purpose.

OIL RADISH. _Law._

Rapha.n.u.s sativus.

A variety of the Common Radish, particularly adapted for the production of oil, and distinguished by the name _R. sativus olifer_, or Oil Radish. Its stems are dwarf, from a foot and a half to two feet in height, much branched, spreading, and produce more seed-pods than the Common Radish. It is grown rather extensively in China for its oil; from whence it has been introduced into and cultivated in some parts of Europe: but it does not appear with any particular success, though much has been said and written in its favor.

It seems best suited for southern lat.i.tudes, where it may be sown in September, and harvested the following May or June: but, in the northern portions of the United States, it will be found too tender to withstand the winter; and the seed will therefore require to be sown in spring.

The oil is obtained from the seed, and is considered superior to rape-seed oil, but is extracted with greater difficulty.

OKRA, OR GUMBO.

Ocra. Hibiscus esculentus.

Okra is a half-hardy annual, from Central America. Stem simple, sometimes branched at the top, and from two to six feet in height, according to the variety; the leaves are large, palmate, deep-green; the flowers are large, five-petaled, yellowish on the border, purple at the centre; the seed-pods are angular, or grooved, more or less sharply pointed, an inch or an inch and a half in diameter at the base, and from four to eight inches in length; the seeds are large, round-kidney-shaped, of a greenish-drab color, black or dark-brown at the eye, and retain their power of germination five years.

_Soil, Sowing, and Cultivation._--Okra may be raised in any common garden soil, and is propagated by seeds sown in April or May. The Dwarf varieties may be grown in rows two feet apart, and a foot from each other in the rows; but the taller sorts require a s.p.a.ce of at least three feet between the rows, and nearly two feet from plant to plant in the rows. Keep the soil about the plants loose and open; and, in the process of cultivation, earth up the stems slightly in the manner of earthing pease. The pods will be fit for use in August and September.

It requires a long, warm season; and is most productive when started in a hot-bed, and grown in a warm, sheltered situation.

_Use._--The green pods are used while quite young, sliced in soups and similar dishes, to which they impart a thick, viscous, or gummy consistency. Thus served, they are esteemed not only healthful, but very nutritious.

The ripe seeds, roasted and ground, furnish a palatable subst.i.tute for coffee.

_Varieties._--

BUIST'S DWARF OKRA. _Count. Gent._

A variety recently introduced by Mr. Robert Buist, of Philadelphia.

Height two feet; being about half that of the old variety. Its superiority consists in its greater productiveness, and the little s.p.a.ce required for its development; while the fruit is of larger size and superior quality. It is said to produce pods at every joint.

DWARF OKRA.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Dwarf Okra.]

Stem two feet and a half high, sometimes branched at the top, but generally undivided; leaves large, and, as in all varieties, five-lobed; flowers yellow, purple at the centre; pods erect, obtusely pointed, nearly as large in diameter as those of the Giant, but generally about five inches in length.

It is the earliest of the Okras, and the best variety for cultivation in the Northern and Eastern States.

Between this and the Tall, or Giant, there are numerous sub-varieties; the result both of cultivation and climate. The Tall sorts become dwarfish and earlier if long cultivated at the North; and the Dwarfs, on the contrary, increase in height, and grow later, if long grown in tropical climates.

The seeds of all the sorts are similar in size, form, and color.

PENDENT-PODDED.

The plants of this variety differ slightly, if at all, from those of the Common or Dwarf Okra. It is princ.i.p.ally, if not solely, distinguished by the pendulous or drooping character of its pods; those of all other sorts being erect.

TALL OR GIANT OKRA.

White-podded.

Stem five to six feet in height; pods erect, sharply tapering to a point, eight to ten inches in length, and about an inch and a half in diameter near the stem or at the broadest part.

With the exception of its larger size, it is similar to the Dwarf; and, if long cultivated under the influence of short and cool seasons, would probably prove identical.

It yields abundantly, but is best adapted to the climate of the Middle and Southern States.

PEPPER.

Capsic.u.m. Capsic.u.m annuum.

Of the Capsic.u.m there are many species, both annual and perennial; some of the latter being of a shrubby or woody character, and from four to six feet in height. As they are mostly tropical, and consequently tender, none but the annual species can be successfully grown in open culture in the Middle States or New England.

The _Capsic.u.m annuum_, or Common Garden-pepper, is a native of India.

The stalks vary in height from a foot to nearly three feet; the flowers are generally white or purple; the pods differ in a remarkable degree in size, form, color, and acridness; the seeds are yellow, nearly circular, flattened, and, like the flesh or rind of the fruit, remarkable for their intense piquancy,--nearly forty-five hundred are contained in an ounce, and their vitality is retained five years.

_Propagation and Cultivation._--The plants are always propagated from seeds. Early in April, sow in a hot-bed, in shallow drills six inches apart, and transplant to the open ground when summer weather has commenced. The plants should be set in warm, mellow soil, in rows sixteen inches apart, and about the same distance apart in the rows; or, in ordinary seasons, the following simple method may be adopted for a small garden, and will afford an abundant supply of peppers for family use: When all danger from frost is past, and the soil is warm and settled, sow the seeds in the open ground, in drills three-fourths of an inch deep, and fourteen inches apart; and, while young, thin out the plants to ten inches apart in the rows. Cultivate in the usual manner, and the crop will be fit for use early in September.

_Use._--"The pod, or fruit, is much used in pickles, seasonings, and made dishes; as both the pod and seeds yield a warm, acrid oil, the heat of which, being imparted to the stomach, promotes digestion, and corrects the flatulency of vegetable aliments. The larger and more common sorts are raised in great quant.i.ties, by market gardeners in the vicinity of populous towns, for the supply of pickle-warehouses."

_Species and Varieties._--