Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1899-04-07
agricultural.
Three Neglected Vegeta bles.


If we were to say three dozen neg
lected vegetables we would still fall
short of the number that might be add
ed to the general list which might easily
be grown in the farm garden and add
variety to the common list of beans,
onions, lettuce, peas, sweet corn, Gu
cumbers, etc. The three we now have
in mind are some that are easy of Guilt
walton, remain in the ground for years
and need hardly any encouragement to
grow, paying immensely for all the trou-
bic they give and all Of which are i'm
portant as food or condiment.
The first of these is asparagus. 1t
grows without any cultivation for the
careless man and responds quickly to
the care of the careful one and for
either produces delicious dish before
any other vegetable is ready for use in
the spring.
All that is necessary TO have it is to
put the plants out in deeply dug place
which has been made very rich with ma
nure and keep the weeds down for a
year After that it will keep the weeds
down with its own vigorous growth, and
if it is given coat Of manure each
winter it will need absolutely no further
cultivation for years, although digging
around it makes the crop larger. Be-
sides filling the place of green peas as
far as taste goes, it has important medi-
cinal qualities that make it one Of the
best things that can be eaten in spring.
After asparagus, but before the sup
ply is gone, comes rheubarb, the pie
plant of our mothers times. The i'm
proved varieties make much heavier
crops than the kind that was grown a
few years ago, and it will take but a
dozen plants to furnish sauce and pie
material for large family. Its pleasant
vinous, acid taste is very grateful to the
palate, and acts as corrective such as is
needed by the man and woman who has
been keeping up bodily heat all winter
by eating large quantities of meat and
other carbonaceous food Rheubarb,
like asparagus, is perfectly able to take
care Of itself if it is given plenty of ma
nure and kept free from weeds, which is
very small task, for the broad leaves
start early in the spring and make such
a dense shade that weeds do not thrive
under them. The roots may need d.
viding every three or four years, but
further than this no deep nor continued
cultivation is necessary. The plant re-
mains IN season for two months, and by
that time other things come to take its
place.
The last of the trio we have in mind
is horse radish. This is so persistent
that it sometimes comes to be regarded
as a weed almost, and yet there are a
good many farms on which it cannot be
found. A few little roots stuck out in
waste corner will furnish supply dur
ing an indefinite number Of years. AS
a relish there is nothing better than
horse radish. An old doctor once told
us that the man who ate plentifully of
horse radsh would escape many Of he
ills that come with warm weather to the
man who works hard and is careless
about bis health. He said its good quail
tiles were not at all appreciated as they
should be, and that every family should
have it on the table during the winter
and spring.
Here are three things that grow with
. very small amount of trouble and re-
quire planting but few times in life
time, and yet three-fourths Of the farms
Of the country do not have any one Of
them and not one farm in hundred all
Of them. Farmers Voice.