Sow seeds of salsify during the spring in the same manner as for
parsnips or carrots. At the South, a sowing may be made in summer to
produce roots for winter use. One ounce of seed is required to plant
100 feet of row, and on a large scale 10 pounds to the acre. After
the plants are well established they should be thinned sufficiently
to prevent their crowding. The cultivation should be the same as for
parsnips or carrots, and frequent use of a wheel hoe will avoid the
necessity for hand weeding. Salsify may be dug in the autumn and stored
or allowed to remain in the ground during the winter, as its treatment
is the same as for parsnips. Salsify is a biennial, and if the roots
are not dug before the second season they will throw up stems and
produce seed. It is of a weedy nature and care should be taken that
it does not run wild by seeding freely. Salsify is deserving of more
general cultivation, as it is one of the more desirable of the root
crops for the garden. The uses of salsify are similar to those of the
parsnip, and when boiled and afterwards coated with rolled crackers and
fried in butter it has a decided oyster flavor, from which the name
vegetable oyster is derived.--(F. B. 255, 295; N. Car. E. S. 132; Idaho
E. S. 10.)