rops. The seeds should be sown from the middle of
April to the 10th of May, in drills an inch deep, and fourteen inches
asunder. Thin the young plants to five inches distant in the rows; and,
during the summer, treat the growing crop as parsnips or carrots.

_Use._--It is cultivated exclusively for its roots, which are usually
taken up in September or October, and served at table, and preserved
during the winter, in the same manner as the Salsify, or Oyster-plant.
They have a pleasant, delicate flavor; and are considered to be not only
healthful, but remarkably nutritious.

* * * * *

SCORZONERA.

Black Oyster-plant. Black Salsify. Scorzonera Hispanica.

This is a hardy perennial plant, introduced from the south of Europe,
where it is indigenous. The root is tapering, and comparatively
slender,--when well developed, measuring about a foot in length, and an
inch in diameter near the crown, or at the broadest part; skin
grayish-black, coarse, somewhat reticulated, resembling the roots of
some species of trees; flesh white; leaves long, ovate, broadest near
the end, and tapering sharply to the stem. They are also more or less
distinctly ribbed, and have a few remote teeth, or serratures, at the
extremities. When in flower, the plant measures about four feet in
height; the stalk being nearly cylindrical, slightly grooved or
furrowed, smooth, and branched towards the top. The flowers are large,
terminal, yellow; the seeds are whitish, longer than broad, taper
towards the top, and retain their vitality two years. An ounce contains
about two thousand five hundred seeds.

_Soil and Culture._--Though a perennial, it is generally cultivated as
an annual or biennial, in the manner of the carrot or parsnip. Thompson
says, "It succeeds best in a light, deep, free soil and an open
situation. It is raised from seed, which may be sown in drills one foot
apart, covering with soil to the depth of half an inch. As it is apt to
run to seed the same year in which it is sown, and consequently to
become tough and woody," the planting should not be made too early,
particularly in the warmer sections of the country. A second sowing may
be made about four weeks from the first, "as a precautionary measure, in
case the plants of the first sowing should run. The young plants, when
three or four inches high, should be thinned out to eight inches asunder
in the rows. Towards the middle or last of September, the