SALSIFY.
One of the root vegetables that keeps company with the parsnip by staying in the ground all winter, and being none the worse for the freezing it gets, is called from its flavor, the vegeta ble oyster plant. The crown above the slender roots bears a bunch of narrow leaves, like blades of coarse grass. The English housewife takes the tender, inner leaves and uses them for salads. We use only the fleshy roots, first scraping off the thin, grayish skin, then boiling them, sliced, with seasoning of butter, pepper, and salt. We add, perhaps, a dash of onion juice, for an extra flavor. Although salsify is not grown by the average gardener in this country, it is found in any good market, and those who are acquainted with it con sider it one of the most delicate and wholesome of winter root vegetables.
The salsify plant surprises us by starting growth early in the second spring, and sending up a flower stalk two or three feet high. This stalk is crowned with a loose head of purple flowers, like daisies or little asters, followed by numerous seeds, winged for flight.
The wild salsify still grows in meadows and pastures along the Mediterranean. A yellow flowered species, native to parts of Asia, is some times seen in gardens. The seeds blow away from cultivated plants and come up in neglected land. These plants have stunted roots not much better than those of wild ones. The fact that salsify "goes back" so quickly to the wild form, when it escapes from gardens, is a sign that it has not long been in cultivation.
In warm countries salsify does poorly, and may become a serious pest if allowed to scatter its seeds broadcast. In colder countries it does best. The gray, damp climate of England exactly suits it, and the English gardeners grow it to perfection. There is little freezing weather there, so it is easy to dig the roots from the soil as they are needed to cook. They are best buried in sand in root cellars, if the ground freezes hard as it does in our north ern states.