The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-09-03
PUBLISHED
cURIosITIES Or AGRICULTURE.
Roots of the Gala Lily as Food-Catel pill
- lars Which Bear Mushrooms.

NASHINGTON, August PA new
vegetable is about to be introduced to
the people Of the United States
through the Department of Agricul-
ture. 1t is nothing more nor less than
tie root Of the Gala lily, which resem-
bies somewhat in appearance the Or
dinary Irish tuber, With the addition
OF a few whiskers that have nothing to
do with the -nth1TAuaIities of the
,.---A -Ic.:0u OF 1t IS so potatollke
mat you would not be likely to remark
any difference. IN cooking It has first
to be boiled, in order to destroy certain
acrid properties, after which it may be
fried, roasted, baked, or what not, ac-
cording to taste.
Farmers in Florida have begun to
raise these Gala roots for market. The
plants grow readily in swamps, and so
thickly that the yield ofa single flooded
acre is enormous. They reproduce
themselves By the multiplication Of
their bulbs underground, so that the
grower has simply to dig up the Off
shoots and leave parents to propagate
anew. For centuries the Egyptians
have cultivated a similar crop during
the seasons Of the Niles overflow, and
at the present time Gala lily bulbs are
q common vegetable in japanese mar
kets. So prolific and palatable are
they that their propagation in many
parts Of the United States, where con-
ditions are favorable may be looked for
ward 10 as an agricultural industry
OF the future.
The Department Of Agriculture is
continually engaged in trying to dis
cover and encourage the cultivation OF
new and desirable varieties of fruits.
Lately it has come across sort ofglaLt
gooseberry that grows on trees, and
within the last few days long-sought
prize has been obtained from Benton
Harbor, Micb., in the shape Of a really
thornless blackberry. The picking OF
this delectable fruit has hitherto been
interfered with to some extent by the
spikes with which nature protects the
branches, but in the future, it is hoped,
people will be able to go blackberrying
without danger Of pricking their
fingers.
Experiments are making for the first
time in the grating of pecan trees.
Accidental seedlings in Texas and New
Mexico have developed nuts of this
kind as far superior to the ordinary
ones as the shellbark is to the :gnut.
Furthermore, it has been demonstrated
that these improved varieties can reau-
lily be perpetuated, and even bettered,
by grating. Only little cultivation |
is necessary to produce pecans of five |
or six times the size of the usual specl- |
mems and with shells so papery as to be
easily broken between the forefnger
and thumb. The writer saw 8. good
sized pasteboard full of such samples
in the office Of the United States Po-
mologist yesterday, and ate a few to
make sure of their delicious quality.
The same process is possible with chest
nuts, which grow to the size Of
horsechestnut in some parts of the
United States. They, too, are being
grated with view to securing the in
crease OF their size3and the improve
iEsn1 of then edible qualities. In
certain Illinois valley hickory nuts
used to grow as wide as tie palm Of
ones hand, and efforts are being made
to obtain a surviving plant so as to
from them.
The Department of State has just
received from Consul Jones at Chin
Klang, China, a small bottle contain
ing some specimens of the curious fun
gus that grows from a species of cater
pillar, literally Transforming the ami
NAL into a vegetable and causing the
unhappy insect to serve the purpose of
q root. It is the larva of a moth, and
when the cold of winter approaches it
makes its way down into the soil to
the depth of three or four inches. r
There it is attacked by remarkable
disease and sprouts, sending up long
shoot which appears and fructifies
above the ground like any mushroom. .
The natives in Thibet and in the ,
of Sze-Khuan 60 about look ,
ng for this fungus near myrtle trees of :
| certain sort. They dig up such speci-
mems as they discover and make them G
nto little bundles, tied with red thread.
n this shape they are sold as med
cine which is esteemed, if possible, q
more highly than the famous ginseng,
,eing considered powerful curative ;
gent for diseases of the throat and .
ungs. o
This fungus has 20 other method Of
,rowth than the one described. The >,
top that is above ground 6
caters its spores around under the \
myrtles on which the :,
aterpillars feed. When the latter ;
'urrow into the soil to hibernate, they =,
re apt to stir up some of the hostile .
,erms, whereupon they are at once ',
ttacked and speedily transformed into ~
.eretable tissue. The substance of /
heir flesh is metamorphosed into
talks sprouting from their heads. Of
curse, a sufficient number of the
arvse escape this fate to perpetuate the
pecies from year to year and to sup