The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-04-12
THE PRESS.
Early Vegetables.

With the wearing away of Winter the hui
man appetite naturally Graves that class OF
food which, in the fitness of things, the
vegetable kingdom affords. One becomes
tired of canned goods, such as peas, beans,
corn, squash, etc., Notwithstanding the art
of canning such products has almost reached
perfection, their flavor being retained to
considerable extent, and offer an excellent
substitute for the fresh article right from
the garden.
Green corn, peas, tomatoes, lima beans,
and dozen other articles that could be men
toned. are now so well canned that there
are people who say that such are Just as
nice as when fresh; but epicures differ on
this point. Perhaps the two productions of
the field or garden which come nearest to a
condition of freshness, when taken from the
can, are corn and tomatoes, the first, by vir-
tue of its sweet and lasting qualities, kept
under certain conditions, and the latter on
account of it's acidity, which is much in its
favor under seal.
Strolling through the market the other
day we found nice, tender lettuce in guam
tity, selling quickly and at remunerative
prices. Lettuce at this season OF the year
is sent to market in barrels mostly First
class hotels and favored families buy it in
considerable quantities. Restaurants have
not found it profitable to put it on their bills
of fare, although it is called for occasionally,
and is sold to diner at ten cents head.
Several Winters ago we saw a few bunch
es of asparagus in the market, but that was
an unusual event in the asparagus world.
1t must have required big forcing process
to have produced asparagus in the month of
February, lat the South or North.
The first asparagus in the Boston market
makes its appearance in the latter part of
April, from the South and the native arti-
Gle comes about the first of May. One deal
er in this market handles fully one-quarter
of the asparagus that comes here. He sup-
plies many of the hotels and leading restau-
rants with the article, both far and near.
The principal part of the vegetables in
this vicinity come from Arlington, Maiden,
Concord, Lexington and Revere. Farmers
in these towns who make speciality OF the
business have acquired considerable promi-
nence in that line, yet it is asserted that
American farmers and producers of garden
truck do not know how to raise asparagus in
its perfection. In fact, asparagus culture,
as general rule, is but imperfectly under
stood in this country.
The average American market gardener,
it has been observed, would scarcely recog-
nize this highly-prized and healthful escu-
lent as it is grown in England, France and
Germany, where the stalks are forced to
size as thick as the base of ones thumb.
lie ScucIdl CuoUOku llCIC, OuJoluC VI buC
leading market gardeners of New York,
Boston and the larger cities, is to cut only
that portion of the plant which projects
above ground. This is bitter and rank in
flavor, and only the tip is tender as COM
pared with the plant when cut as it should
beat the time when the snake-like head
does not project more than an inch, or two
inches at most, beyond the surface of the
soil.
Explaining the process of improved cul-
ture of the esculent, it is recommended
that the knife should be run down low in
the earth, and you should have your aspara-
gus blanched, lustrous, delicate and tender,
excepting the extreme base. 1t is cut in
this manner only by the good growers in
Europe.
A bunch of the largest grown '.giant' va
riety, cut green, would not bring One-fifth
of its value when blanched, in the Paris
market; nor would it be taken as a gift in
Covent Garden Market, in London, when
cut and grown as is usually the custom
here. When cut even with the ground, in
stead of close to the crown, the shoots that
have just begun to sprout have tendency
to grown up lank and spindling. When
cut low, another shoot soon starts; whereas,
when cut at the surface, the remaining
portion retains the moisture, and still draws
nourishmentfrom the plant, enfeebling the
latter, and not allowing the shoots in embryo,
or that have just started, to develop as
quick as they otherwise would.
To obtain large stalks an asparagus bed
requires to be closely cropped during the
bearing season, OF otherwise it has a tenden-
cy to exhaust lhe bed; all spinding shoots
should be vigorously kept down. To insure
prolific yield, as also large stocks, a thor
ough manuring is also necessary in the Fall,
together with a liberal top-dressing of
salt early in the Spring, the manure and
salt then to be forked under. A great fault
of many beds IS that the plant is not set low
enough in the earth, and as a consequence
but small subsurface growth can result.
A bearing beds requires to be kept filled
up, which, when not sufficiently accom-
plished with the Fall dressing, may be add
ed to with a top sprinkling of earth at
the time of forking in the Spring.
Properly grown, the shaft is white and
polished as ivory, and the point of the shoot
of a rich lilac tinge. Grown in this way it
is infinitely superior to the sickly, spindling
switches, with miserable apologies for ped
estals to stand upon, that are cut when tot
tering consumptively six or eight inches
above ground barely able to stand their own
weight of bitterness and acerbity. 1t should
be observed that the French, who grow the
asparagus to the greatest perfection, gener
ally cultivate it in trenches, and nurse it
from its infancy with the utmost care. On
the Continent this esculent is uniformly
prepared by boiling in water until it is per-
fectly tender, and then served with a
'brown butter gravy" FOR a sauce a la Hol-
landarise, eating the stalks, which are
never cut at table, in the primitive manner,
with the fingers, leaving the tougher base
of the stalks. ''To serve up green aspar-
agus is to dishonor the table" say the
French. Of course those who like to
crack leathery asparagus whips at the din
ner table are welcome to such gustatory
music as they can evoke, as they are to such
harmony as can be engendered from sug
ar and vinegar fermentation in their salad.
1t should be observed in this connection,
that the asparagus found in the vicinity of
Boston is probably the best grown in the
United States, that going to the New York
and Philadelphia markets not excepted.
The same observation is also true respect
ing the article of celery, large quantities of
which are now in market This plant is
quite well blanched this season, crispy and
leaving pleasant flavor in the mouth.
The large celery tracts of Arlington, Con-
cord, Lexington and other places where the
article is produced in large quantities have
Yielded well and profitably to their owners.
The blanching of celery involves an impor-
tant principle in scientific agriculture, and
the preservation of it against the change
able elements of the weather involves much
careful judgment and expenditure of time.
Medical authorities say that celery is an ex-
cellent regulator of the human system, in
certain respects.
The consumption of such esculents and
plants, ripened under the above peculiar
conditions, is, next to the common vegeta-
bles of the garden or the farm, an actual
necessity for health. Other theorists, be-
sides vegetarians, have come to the conclu-
sion that life would be miserable were it not
for the use of the products Of the garden, be
it beet, cabbage, asparagus, celery or what
not.-Boston Cultivator.