The record-union., 1894-07-06
ABOUT ASPARAGUS.
An Ancient Vegetable That Flourishes
Here.
How 1t Has Been Cultivated in This
Country-seeds Used for
Coffee.

AS ticker of the palate asparagus has
come down the ages with all the weight
of Greek and Roman approval. Plato
ate it by the plateful, and Aristophanes,
the humorist, regarded it as a great aid
in digesting the crank philosophers of
the day.
1t is an odd fact that this culinary plant
is closely related to the famous asphodel,
which was supposed by the ancients to
be the leading flower in the gardens of
the Elysium, the Greek purgatory or
Paradise. A part of the quaintness of
this lies in the fact that the roots both
possess purgative qualities. The roots
and fruits of both were formerly much
used in medicine for this purpose.
According to the superstition of the
the roots OF the asphodel. They planted
it, therefore, in and around the ceme-
teries. Hence to this day it covers with
it's beautiful golden blossoms as pro-
fusely as dandelions the Apulian hills
and valleys and the sheep feed on it
greedily.
1t belongs to the same natural order of
perennials, and the only difference be-
tween the asparagus and the asphodel
appears to be in the fruit and the color Of
the flowers. SO abundant is the wild as
paragus in the steppes Of Russia that
cattle eat it like grass, just as Italian
sheep devour its botanical cousin.
Not native to America, it has here,
however, been raised to its greatest per-
fiction as table delicacy. Perhaps no
other plant gives as good proof of what
cultivation can do. In its wild state it
rarely grows higher than foot, or
thicker than slate pencil. Culture has
multiplied its hight by four. and its
thickness nearly as much, adding also
10 its flavor. Not, however, to its value
as food, for it still possesses very little
nutritive substance.
1t was once regarded as garden orna-
ment in this country, and in the New
England rural places, especially, it was
used in making up bouquets, and dried
specimens can still be found in Maine
and Massachusetts parlors. Nor is this,
which would strike those who know it
only to eat it, as a curious old-fashioned
taste, without good foundation from an
artistic point of view. For the full
grown plant is remarkable for its deli
cate elegance. 1t has many branches
loaded with fine, threadlike leaves and
small bell-shaped flowers of a greenish
yellow luster.
Its expansiveness is also remarkable,
and 1t has lent itself to modern humor as
it did to ancient. One OF the most deli
cious passages of Charles Dudley War
ner's My Summer in Garden" tells of
planting it, leaving it alone for awhile
and coming back to find that it had over
run everything and threatened to turn
his place into an asparagus grove.
The methods Of cultivation and cutting
of the young and tender shoots Tor mar
ket before ramification differ very little
here and abroad, except as to time. Here
it is generally not cut for the first two
years. Abroad 1t is often allowed TO grow
three or four. The life OF plant properly
cut and tended is dozen years. The
beds are generally four feet broad, with
trenches two and half feet deep for the
manuring. The plants are usually ar
ranged from six to ten inches apart, and
the cluster of heads that grows from each
root is cut from a little below the surface
of the soil.
Asparagus possesses, in common with
asphodel and some score of related plants,
very peculiar crystalline chemical
called asparagine, and an extract of the
shoots and roots is still administered oc-
casionally in dropsies as diuretic and
also as lithic to dissolve calculi in the
bladder. 1t seems to be unquestionably
stimulus to digestion and is probably
one of the most wholesome adjuncts of a
dinner.
The seeds in some parts of Southern
Europe are dried and used as a substitute
for coffee, which may yet come into fash
ion here. A wild variety in Spain and
Portugal Is considered the crown of
salad, having a very pleasant bitter taste
that gives not only FLIP to the tongue,
but also to the appetite. The amount
raised in Staten Island and New Jersey
for the New York market increases
markedly every year and the quality
seems to keep pace with the quantity.
The ways of cooking and sowing 1t are
likewise on the increase. Asparagus on
toast, asparagus salads. asparagus patties,
sauces and even soups, plain and in COM
bination with many other vegetables, in
dicate by their variety the favor it has at
tanned.
A very common mistake, however,
that is made in preparing it Is TO cook it
whole. After being delicately washed it
should be cut in half and the lower part
should be cooked for three-quartcrs or an
hour. Then add the tops and cook for
ten or fifteen minutes. By this method
both parts become just right. The stalk
is tender throughout and the tops do not
fall all to pieces.
So.called sPrussian asparagus, an allied
plant of which the spikes are eaten in
some places, is not wholesome, and
canned asparagus seems to lack not only
flavor, but the medicinal virtues of the
fresh.-New York World.