Salsify is one of the best of winter and early spring vegetables, and should be grown in every garden. It may be cooked in several different ways, to bring out the oyster flavor.

The seed should be sown as early in the spring as possible. Handle the same as parsnips in every way. The roots, like parsnips, are the better for the winter freeze, but part of the crop should be dug in the fall, and stored in soil or moss in a cellar for winter use.

314. Salsify, or oyster.

Sea-kale is a strong-rooted perennial, the shoots of which are very highly prized as a delicacy when blanched.

Seed should be sown in a hotbed early in the spring, plants transplanted to the garden when from 2 to 3 inches high, and given good cultivation through the season, being covered with litter on the approach of winter. The young stalks are blanched early the following spring by covering with large pots or boxes, or by banking with sand or other clean material. The Dwarf Green Scotch, Dwarf Brown, and Siberian are among the leading varieties. Sea-kale is eaten much as asparagus is. It is highly prized by those who know it.

Sea-kale is also propagated by cuttings of the roots 4 or 5 inches long, planted directly in the soil in spring. The plant being perennial, the early shoots may be bleached year after year.

Sorrel of the European garden sorts may be sown in spring, in drills 16 inches apart in beds, or 3 to 31 feet apart in rows. After the plants are well established they should be thinned to 10 to 12 inches apart in the rows. They are perennial, and may be kept growing in the same place for several years. Broad-leaved French is the most popular variety.

Spearmint is prized by many persons as a seasoning, particularly for the Thanksgiving and holiday cookery.

It is a perennial and perfectly hardy, and will live in the open garden year after year. If a supply of the fresh herbage is wanted in winter, remove sods of it to the house six weeks before wanted. Place the sods in boxes, and treat as for house plants. The plants should have been frosted and become perfectly dormant before removal.