Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-07-24
SPRING VEGETABLES
BY Frederic J. Haskin

Wild watercress has more tonic value
than the cultivated plant, and you are
fortunate if you have access to a brook
spring where it grows. You should
be very careful, however, that the
waters from which 1t is taken are not
polluted, for the cress acts as sieve
to catch everything floating down the
stream.
A vegetable of little food value and
hard to digest is the radish, which
consists chiefly of wood, water and sui
phur. A young radish, quickly grown,
is fairly digestible and makes a good
appetizer, but when the radish gets
old IT is no more edible than cord,
wood, and should be avoided. Also
1t should not be peeled, but eaten
SKIN and all, and preferably with a bit
of the leaf too.
Spinach is an excellent vegetable to
eat in the Spring because of the large
amount of iron which it contains. It
is mildly laxative and emollient and
is especially good for invalids and old
persons. Also, the juice of spinach
as obtained by boiling it, may be
drunk with excellent effect upon the
complexion.
Another wholesome vegetable is the
turnip, and one which may be used in
more ways than most persons are
aware. The root, boiled and mashed,
is an excellent vegetable. Turnip-
tops when young make excellent
Spring green's. When grown in dry,
sandy soil, the turnip may be mashed
and made into a bread, and it may
also be baked whole, and served with
butter.
The somewhat similar carrot is dis
tlnguished by its pronounced antiseptic
powers which make it especially di-
gestlble; while in some rural districts
in England, mashed carrots are used
as salVe for sores, and are said to
neal them quickly.
What effect the tomato has upon the
human system is a matter of some
controversy and should certainly be
OF importance in this country, where
nearly everyone eats the fruit raw in
season and canned during the winter
The charge has been seriously brought
against the tomato that it causes can
Ger, but no substantial proof has been
brought forward. and there is nothing
the composition of the vegeta BILE to
indicate that 1t COulG do so. It con-
talns citric and malic acids and also
eXalate of potash and has no charms
Tor the equity. On the other hand II
undoubtedly stimulates the liver and
the prevalence OF torpid liver among
cVlllzed brain workers probably ac-
counts for its rapid rise in popularitv
when it was brought from South
America and introduced in Europe and
the United States.
The whole tomato plant is rich in
sulphur, so that when burned under
fruit trees, the smoke will kill blight
upon them. 1t is probable that the
release of sulphur within the BODY
When the tomato is digested has a de-
clded antibacterial action. Altogeth
er, there is little doubt but what the
tomato is vegetable of remarkable
purifying value when taken raw. Most
OF It's specific qualities are neutralized
when it is cooked
These instances are sufficient TO
show that nearly all vegetables con-
tain specific acids and oils and should
therefore be eaten with view to their
ERECT. The judicious use of fresh
vegetables will do a great deal to helm
you through minor ailments and indis-
positions which beset all mankind in
the Spring; while by the careless use
OF them chronic ailments or Tendencies
are apt to be aggravated.