SWISS CHARD.
A race of beets is known to gardeners under the name Swiss chard. Like the ornamental beet, its root is small and tough, and the leaves are the part for which the plants are grown. Thick, tender leaf stalks branch out into the web of the leaf, and this also is tender and edible as the leaf of spinach. Some people prefer to cook stalks and leaves together as a pot herb when less than fully grown. Some strip the stalks, boil them in convenient lengths, and serve like asparagus. Sometimes the leaf blades are boiled as a separate dish, or served cold in a salad. The stalks are
white in most species.
If the roots are undisturbed, and only the outer leaves taken off, chard plants will continue indefi nitely to form new leaves. When other vege tables take the place of chard, or the family tires of pot herbs, the wisest course is to keep the plants and harvest the leaves for the chickens. Little and big, they all eat the succulent food eagerly, and thrive on it as a green ration with their dry grain foods.