We mention some of the more common kinds of garden esculent
vegetables, to point out the best kinds, and give some hints for their
cultivation. If more vegetables were raised and eaten in the place of
meat, there would be fewer diseases, and less expense for medicine
than is now the case among those who eat so heartily and liberally of
the _fat_ of the land.
BEET.—The turnip-rooted blood beet should be sown for the earliest
crop; the long blood beet for the late crop, and for winter use. The
_blood beet_ is the proper garden beet. The _scarcity_, the sugar
beets (so called), white, yellow, and red, are inferior for table use.
Every year we see accounts of new varieties, which are seldom
mentioned a second time, while these old standard sorts hold their own
from year to year. We see people running around among their neighbors
for _beet_-seed, careless whether it is early or late, coarse fleshed
or fine grained, sweet or insipid. It is just as easy and cheap to
have the best seed of the best kinds, as to have refuse seed of
worthless kinds. Lately, a variety introduced from France, called
_Bassano_, has attracted attention and commendation.[11] It is early,
tender, and sweet. If you attempt to raise your own seed, let only
_one_ sort stand in the garden; otherwise bees and other insects will
mix them, and the purity of the variety will be lost. We very seldom
see an unmixed variety in common gardens, unless seed have been bought
from good seedsmen.
The best seed is a small black seed about the size of a pin head,
enveloped in a ragged, rough, two or three lobed husk. Every _seeming_
seed planted, then, is a mere envelope of two or more seeds, and two
or three plants come up, very much to the surprise of the
inexperienced, for each husk. When a little advanced, they are to be
thinned out to one in a place.
We prefer planting very early, and in rows eight inches apart and at
about _one inch_ distant in the row. As the plants begin to gain size
they make very delicate greens; and for this purpose are to be boiled,
leaf, root, and all. Continue to thin out until one is left for every
six inches for full growth.
Every year a great ado is made about monstrous beets—twenty and thirty
pounders. There is no objection to these giants, unless they beget an
idea that _size_ is the test of merit. For table-use, _medium sized_
fruits and vegetables are every way preferable; a beet should never be
larger than a goose-egg.
It is equally foolish to suppose that large, coarse-grained
vegetables, whether potatoes, beets, parsnips, ruta bagas, or anything
else, are as good for stock, though not so palatable to men. To be
sure they fill up. But that which is nutriment to man is nutriment to
beast; a vegetable which is rank and watery is no better for my cow
than for us. It is not the _bulk_ but the _quality_ that measures the
fitness of articles for food.
PARSNIP.—This vegetable is, to those who are fond of it, very
desirable, as coming in at a time when other things are failing. For,
although the parsnip attains its size by autumn, yet its flavor seems
to depend upon its receiving a pretty good frosting. It may be dug at
open spells through the winter and early in the spring. It gives one
of the first indications of returning warmth, and its green leaves are
among the first which cheer the garden. On this account it must be dug
early in the spring and housed, or it will spoil by growth.
We know of no difference in varieties. The _Guernsey_, is not a
different sort from the common, but only the common sort, very highly
cultivated in that island, where it sometimes grows to a length of
four feet. The _hollow-crowned_ and _Siam_ are mentioned in English
catalogues, as fine fleshed and flavored, but we have never been able
to obtain seed of them.
The parsnip (_Pastinacea sativa_) is a native of Great Britain and is
found wild by the road-sides, delighting particularly in calcareous
soils. It has hitherto been supposed that the seed would not retain
its germinating power more than one year, but Mr. Mendenhall states
that he has raised freely from four year old seed. The parsnip is much
sown as a field crop at the east, yielding 1,000 bushels, on good
land, to the acre. They are invaluable both to cows and horses. The
quantity and quality of milk in cows is improved; and no farmer with
whom butter-making is a considerable object of interest, should be
without a root crop—beet, carrot, or ruta baga.
CARROT. (_Daucus carota_).—This is a native of Great Britain. The
early horn and Altringham are the best varieties sold by our seedsmen.
Beside their use upon the table, they are largely and deservedly
cultivated in the field for stock. A horse becomes more fond of them
than of oats, and they do not, like the potato, require boiling before
feeding out. A thousand bushels may be raised to the acre. The premium
of the New York Agricultural Society for the year 1844, was to a crop
of 1,059 bushels the acre. The seed should be new each year, as it
will not come well even the second year, and not at all if kept yet
longer.
RADISH.—Every garden has its bed of radishes, and they are among the
first spring gifts. They will grow in any soil, but not in all equally
well. A mellow sandy loam is best; or rather that soil is best which
will grow them the quickest. If they are a long time in growing, they
are tough and stringy. It is said that a compost of the following
materials will produce them very early and finely. Take equal parts of
buckwheat bran and fresh horse-dung, dig them in plentifully into the
soil where you intend to sow. Within two days a plentiful crop of
toadstools will start up. Spade them under, and sow your seed, and the
radishes will come forward rapidly, and be tender and free from worms.
The _short-top scarlet_, is the best for spring planting. It is so
named, because, from its rapid growth the top is yet small when the
root is fit for the table. There is a white and red turnip-rooted
variety, also good for spring use. The turnip-rooted kinds have not
only the shape, but something of the sweetness and flavor of the
turnip, and are by some preferred to all others. For summer planting,
there is a yellow turnip-rooted sort and the summer white. For fall
and early winter, the white and black Spanish are planted. When
radishes are sown broadcast, it must be very thinly, for if at all
crowded they run to top, and refuse to form edible roots. For our own
use, we sow on the edges of beds, devoted to onions, beets, etc., and
thrust each seed down with the finger.
The radish (_Raphanus sativus_) is a native of China, and was
introduced to England before 1584.
SALSIFY, OR VEGETABLE OYSTER.—We esteem this to be a much better root
for table use than either the parsnip or carrot. It is cultivated in
all respects as these crops are. Some have been skeptical as to their
possessing an oyster flavor. They seldom attain the true taste until,
like the parsnip, they have been well frosted. But if dug up during
spells in winter and early in the spring, and cooked by an orthodox
formula, they are strikingly like the oyster. We have just consulted
the oracle of our kitchen, and give forth the following method of
cooking it: First, oblige your husband to raise a good supply of them.
When you have obtained them, scrape off the outside skin—cut the root
lengthwise into thin slices—put them into a spider and just cover with
hot water. Let them boil until a fork will pass through them easily.
Without turning off the water, season them with butter, pepper, and
salt, and sprinkle in a little flour—enough to thicken the liquor
slightly. Then eat them.
The success of this gustatory deception depends, more than anything
else, upon the skill in seasoning. If well done they are not merely an
apology, but they are a very excellent substitute for the shell-fish
himself; a thousand times better than pickled can-oysters—those arrant
libels upon all that is dear in the remembrance of a live oyster.
Every one may save seed for himself, as it will not, if well
cultivated, degenerate. It is a biennial, and roots may either be set
out, or left standing where they were planted. When the seed begins to
feather out it must be immediately gathered, or like the dandelion or
thistle, it will be blown away by the wind. This vegetable should be
much more extensively cultivated than it is.
BEANS.—There are three kinds—English dwarf; kidney dwarf or string,
and the pole beans. The first kind, so far as our experience has gone,
are coarser than the others, and, in our hot and dry summers, are very
difficult to raise.
Of kidney or bush beans, there is a long catalogue of sorts. The
_Mohawk_ is good for its hardiness, enduring spring frosts with
comparative impunity. The _red-speckled valentine_ is highly
commended. But after a trial of some twenty kinds, we are entirely
contented with one—the _China red-eye_. It is early, hardy, very
prolific, and well flavored.
Of the pole beans, one sort, the _Lima_, might supersede all others
were it a little earlier. It is immensely prolific, its flavor
unrivalled, and nearly the same in the dry bean as when cooked in its
green state, a quality which has never, we believe, been found in any
other variety. To supply the deficiency of this variety in earliness,
we know of none equal to the _Horticultural_. With these two kinds one
has no need of any other. Pole beans will not bear frost, and are
among the last seeds to be planted, seldom before the last of April.
The bush-bean may precede them a fortnight.
The English dwarf (_Vicia faba_) is a native of Egypt; but has been
cultivated in England from time immemorial, and, it is supposed, was
introduced by the Romans.
The kidney dwarf (_Phaseolus vulgaris_) is a native of India, and was
introduced into England about the year 1597.
The pole bean (_Phaseolus multifloris_) is a native of South America,
and was introduced to England in 1633.
Pole beans are not strictly annuals. In a climate where the winter
does not destroy them they bear again the second year, and we believe
yet longer. Gov. Pinney, of Liberia, on the African coast, stated in a
lecture, speaking of the vegetable productions of that region, that
the bean was a permanent vine like the grape, bearing its crops from
year to year without replanting. The bush bean is strictly an annual.
If the pole bean were protected in the ground, or raised and put away
like sweet potatoes, dahlias, etc., in the cellar and replanted in the
spring it would bear again the second season. Perhaps an earlier crop
of beans might thus be secured.
The bean crop, by field culture, is not to be overlooked. Great
quantities of dried beans are consumed by families, by the army and in
the navy, and they always bear a good price, when they are well grown
and well cured. They are excellent for sheep, not from their fattening
properties, but for improving their fleece. Analysis has shown them to
be rich in those properties which are “wool-gathering.”
[11] A new variety called the _Bassano_ has been recently
introduced into France, and extensively cultivated; and it
is said to be found in all the markets from Venice to Genoa,
in the month of June. It is remarkable for the form of the
root, which is flattened like a turnip. The skin is red, the
flesh white, veined with rose. It is very tender, very
delicate, preserving its rose colored rings after cooking,
and from two to two and a half inches in diameter. This
description is from the _Bon Jardinier_ for 1841. The
edition for 1842 states that this variety is highly esteemed
in the north of Italy, and that it is, in fact, one of the
best kinds for the table.—_Hovey’s Magazine._