Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-05-25
Spring Vegetables
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

Oil. WHu wafer CroSS mas more lOulC
value than the cultivated plant and
you are fortunate If you have access
to spring or brook where 1t grows,
You should be very careful, however,
that the waters from which 1t Is TAX
en- are not polluted for the cress acts
as a 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
sulphur. A young radish, quickly
grown, is fairly digestible and makes
a good appetizer. but when the radish
gets old 1t is no more edible than
cordwood and should be avoided. Also
1t should not be peeled but eaten skin
and all and preferably with bit OF
the leaf, too.
Spinach is an excellent vegetable to
eat in the spring because Of the large
amount of iron which 1t contains. It
is mildly laxative and emollient and
is especially good for invalids and
old persons Also. the Juice Of spin
ach 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 bread and 1t may also be
baked whole and served with butter.
The somewhat similar carrot is dis
tinguished by its pronounced anti
septic powers, which make 1t especi-
ally digestible: while in some rural
districts in England mashed carrots
are used as a salve for sores and are
said to heal 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
in the composition Of the vegetable
to indicate, that 1t could do so. 1t
contains citric and malic acids and
also oxalate of potash and has no
charms for the equity. On the other
hand, 1t undoubtedly stimulates the
liver and the prevalence Of torpid liv-
er among civilized brain workers
probably accounts for it's rapid rise IN
popularity 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 the sulphur within the body
when the tomato is digested has a de-
cided anti-bacterial action. Altogeth-
err, there is little doubt but what the
tomato is a vegetable Of remarkable
purifying value when taken raw. Most
Of it's specific qualities are neutralized
when 1t 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
effect. The tudicious use of fresh
vegetables will do great deal to help
you through minor ailments and indis-
positions which beset all mankind IN
the spring: while by the careless use
of them chronic ailments or tenden-
cies are apt to be aggravated.