TUBEROUS-ROOTED TROPÆOLUM. Thomp.
Ysano. Tropæolum tuberosum.
This is a perennial plant from Peru, and deserves mention as a recently introduced esculent. It produces an abundance of handsome yellow and red tubers, about the size of small pears; the taste of which is not, however, very agreeable. On this account, a particular mode of treatment has been adopted in Bolivia, where, according to M. Decaisne, they are treated in the following manner:—
The tubers designated "Ysano," at La Paz, require to be prepared before they are edible. Indeed, when prepared like potatoes, and immediately after being taken up, their taste is very disagreeable. But a mode of making them palatable was discovered in Bolivia; and the Ysano has there become, if not a common vegetable, at least one which is quite edible. The means of making them so consists in freezing them after they have been cooked, and they are eaten when frozen. In this state it is said that they constitute an agreeable dish, and that scarcely a day passes at La Paz without two lines of dealers being engaged in selling the Ysano, which they protect from the action of the sun by enveloping it in a woollen cloth, and straw. Large quantities are eaten sopped in treacle, and taken as refreshment during the heat of the day.
Propagation and Culture.—The plant may be propagated by pieces of the tubers, in the same manner as potatoes; an eye being preserved on each piece. The sets should be planted in April or May, according to the season, about four feet apart, in light, rich soil. The stems may be allowed to trail along the ground, or pea-sticks may be placed for their support. In dry soils and seasons, the former method should be adopted; in those which are moist, the latter. The tubers are taken up in October, when the leaves begin to decay, and stored in sand.
THE TURNIP.
English Turnip. Brassica rapa.
The common Turnip is a hardy, biennial plant, indigenous to Great Britain, France, and other parts of Europe. The roots of all the varieties attain their full size during the first year. The radical leaves are hairy and rough, and are usually lobed, or lyrate; but, in some of the sorts, nearly spatulate, with the borders almost entire. The flowers are produced in May and June of the second year, and the seeds ripen in July; the flower-stalk rises three feet or more in height, with numerous branches; the leaves are clasping, and much smoother and more glaucous than the radical leaves of the growth of the previous year; the flowers are yellow, and are produced in long, loose, upright, terminal spikes; the seeds are small, round, black, or reddish-brown, and are very similar, in size, form, and color, in the different varieties,—ten thousand are contained in an ounce, and they retain their vitality from five to seven years.