The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 29

One method of blanching is simply to tie the leaves together with matting, and then to earth up the plants from time to time like celery; beginning early in September, and adding gradually every week until they are sufficiently covered. Those, however, blanched by the banding process, are superior, both in respect to color and in the greater length of the parts blanched.

Another practice is to earth up a little about the base of the plant, tie the leaves together with thread or matting, and then envelop the whole quite to the top with a quant.i.ty of long, clean wheat or rye straw, placed up and down the plant, and tied together with small cord or strong matting. The leaves will thus blanch without being earthed up, and speedily become white. This process is a good one, is economical, and presents a neat appearance.

"In either of the methods, it is very necessary to be careful that the plants are perfectly dry before they are enveloped in their covering: they will otherwise rot." In about three weeks after being tied up, the cardoons will be fit for use.

_Harvesting._--When the stems and midribs of the leaves are thoroughly blanched, they are ready for use. Until the occurrence of severe weather, the table may be supplied directly from the garden: but, before the closing-up of the ground, "the plants should be taken up, roots and leaves entire, and removed to the cellar; where they should be packed in sand, laying the plants down in rows, and packing the sand around them, one course over another, till finished. In this way, they not only keep well, but become more perfectly blanched."

_To raise Seed._--Allow two or three plants to remain unblanched, and leave them in the ground during the winter, protected by straw or other convenient material. They will grow to the height, and flower and seed, as before described. One plant will afford sufficient seed for any common garden.

_Use._--"The stems of the leaves, as well as the mid-ribs, when blanched, are used for soups, stews, and even for salads, in autumn and winter. The longer these parts of the plant are, and the more rapidly they are grown, the more they are esteemed, on account of their greater crispness, tenderness, and color." The "Gardener's Chronicle" gives the following directions for dressing them:--

"When a Cardoon is to be cooked, the solid stalks of the leaves are to be cut in pieces about six inches long, and boiled, like any other vegetable, in pure water (not salt and water), till they are tender.

They are then to be carefully deprived of the slime and strings that will be found to cover them; and, having been thus thoroughly cleansed, are to be plunged in cold water, where they must remain until they are wanted for the table. They are then taken out, and heated with white sauce, or marrow. The process just described is for the purpose of rendering them white, and of depriving them of a bitterness which is peculiar to them. If this is neglected, the cardoons will be black, not white, as well as disagreeable." M'Intosh remarks, that, when skilfully prepared, they form an excellent and wholesome dish, deserving far more general notice.

In France, the flowers are gathered, and dried in the shade; and, when so preserved, are used as a subst.i.tute for rennet, to coagulate milk.

_Varieties._--

COMMON, OR LARGE SMOOTH. _Trans._

Smooth Large Solid. Plein Inerme. _Vil._

This kind grows from four to five feet high. The leaves are large and strong, though somewhat smaller than those of the Tours or p.r.i.c.kly Cardoon. They are of a s.h.i.+ning-green color, with little appearance of h.o.a.riness on the upper surface, and generally dest.i.tute of spines; though some of the plants occasionally have a few small ones at the base of the leaflets.

The Cardon _Plein Inerme_ of the French, which is described in the "Bon Jardinier" as a novelty, corresponds nearly with the Large Smooth or Common Cardoon.

LARGE SPANISH. _Trans._

D'Espagne. _Vil._

Stem five or six feet high. The divisions of the leaflets are rather narrower, and somewhat more h.o.a.ry, than those of the Common Cardoon.

The ribs are longer, and the whole plant stronger and generally more spiny; though, on the whole, comparatively smooth. It is not, however, always very readily distinguished from the Common or Large Smooth Cardoon. It runs up to seed quicker than the other varieties.

PUVIS. _Thomp._

Artichoke-leaved. Lance-leaved. Puvis de Bourg. _Vil._

The Puvis Cardoon is remarkable for its strong growth, the large size it attains, and the thickness of the mid-ribs of the leaves, which are almost solid. The leaves are thick, and not at all p.r.i.c.kly, or very slightly so. The terminal lobe is very large, and lance-formed: whence the name. It is a fine variety, and of more tender substance than the Tours Cardoon.

RED. _Trans._

Blood-ribbed. Red-stemmed. _Thomp._ Large Purple.

The leaves of this variety are green, without any h.o.a.riness; long, narrow, and more sharply pointed than those of most of the other kinds.

The ribs are large, solid, and tinged with red. A recent sort, excellent in quality, but wanting in hardiness.

TOURS. _Trans._

Large Tours Solid. Cardon de Tours. _Vil._

The leaves of this variety are very h.o.a.ry on the upper surface; the divisions are broad, sharply pointed, and terminate with rigid, sharp spines. Spines also grow, in cl.u.s.ters of from three to five, at the base of the leaflets; and are very strong, and of a yellowish color. This variety is not so tall as the Spanish or Large Smooth. The ribs are large and solid.

The Tours Cardoon is cultivated by the market-gardeners around Paris; and, notwithstanding the inconvenience arising from its numerous and rigid spines, it is considered by them as the best, because of its thick, tender, and delicate ribs.

THE HOP.

Humulus lupulus.

The Hop is considered a native of this continent, and is found wild in all parts of the United States. The root is perennial, but the stems are annual. The latter are from ten to twenty-five feet in length, angular, rough, and twine from right to left. The leaves are placed opposite each other on the stem, on long, winding footstalks: the smaller ones are heart-shaped; the larger ones three or five lobed, veiny, and rough. The barren and fertile flowers are produced on separate plants: the former being very numerous and paniculated; the latter in the form of an ament, or collection of small scales, which are more or less covered with a fine, yellow powder called "lupulin."

While several distinct sorts of the fertile or hop-bearing plant have been long in cultivation, only one variety of the male or barren plant is known.

_Soil and Location._--Though it may be cultivated with success in a variety of soils, the Hop prefers a rich, deep loam, which should be thoroughly ploughed, and, if necessary, enriched with well-digested compost. In general, it may be said that "good corn-land is good hop-land." Hops, however, are reputed to be of better quality when raised on comparatively thin soils.

_Propagation and Culture._--It is propagated by a division of the roots early in spring. When extensively cultivated, the plants are set in hills, five to seven feet apart, and three or four cuttings or slips allowed to a hill; but in garden culture, to procure the young shoots, the plants are set in rows about three feet apart, and one foot from plant to plant in the rows.

_Use._--The plant is princ.i.p.ally cultivated for its flowers, which are largely employed in the manufacture of malt liquors. The young shoots are cut in spring, when they are five or six inches in height, and eaten as salad, or used as asparagus, which they somewhat resemble in taste.

HOOSUNG, OR OOSUNG. _Hov. Mag._

A lettuce-like plant from Shanghai. Stems cylindrical, from two to three feet high, erect, light green, with a green, succulent pith; leaves oblong, tapering to the base, the uppermost clasping; the flowers are small, yellow, in panicles slightly drooping. If sown in April or May, the plants will ripen their seed in August.

_Sowing and Cultivation._--Sow in a cool frame, in either April or May, or continuously, for a succession, at intervals during May, and transplant into the open ground in the usual manner of treating lettuces; making the rows about eighteen inches apart, and placing the plants about the same distance apart in the rows. The plants will be fit for use early in June.

_Use._--The succulent stem is the part used. This is divested of its outer rind, and either simply boiled, with a little salt in the water, and dressed as asparagus, or stewed in soy, with salt, pepper, and b.u.t.ter added, or boiled in soup as okra. It is a very agreeable and pleasant addition to the list of vegetable esculents, and worthy of trial.

The plant is very little cultivated; and there are no described varieties.

PERENNIAL PHYTOLACCA.

Garget. Poke. Pigeon Berry. Phytolacca decandra.

A hardy, herbaceous, perennial plant, common by roadsides, in waste places, and springing up spontaneously on newly burned pine-lands. It has a branching, purplish stem, five to seven feet in height; and large, oval, pointed, entire leaves. The flowers are produced in July and August, in long cl.u.s.ters; and are of a dull-white color. The fruit consists of a flat, purple, juicy berry; and is sometimes used for dyeing purple.

_Soil and Culture._--It will thrive in almost any soil or situation; and can be easily propagated from seed, or by dividing the roots. The plant requires little cultivation, and is so abundant in many localities as to afford an ample supply for the mere labor of gathering.

_Use._--The young shoots are eaten early in the season, as a subst.i.tute for asparagus, which they resemble in taste. When treated in the manner of sea-kale, the flavor of the sprouts is scarcely distinguishable from that of asparagus. The root has reputed important medicinal properties; and, when taken internally, acts as a violent emetic.