on toast with an egg sauce or a cream
sauce; or it may be prepared the same as directed for Escalloped Egg
Plant.

SALSIFY, OR VEGETABLE OYSTER.

DESCRIPTION.--The vegetable oyster plant, sometimes called purple
goat's-beard, or salsify, is indigenous to some portions of Great
Britain. The long, slender root becomes fleshy and tender under
cultivation, with a flavor, when cooked, somewhat resembling that of the
mollusk for which it is named. On this account, it is much esteemed for
soups. A variety of the plant grows near the line of perpetual snow, and
forms the principal article of fresh vegetable food in the dietary of
Kurdistan.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Select fresh and unshriveled roots, wash
and scrape well, dropping into cold water as soon as cleaned, to prevent
discoloration. If the roots are covered with cold water for a half hour
or more before scraping, they can be cleaned much easier. Use a
porcelain-lined kettle, for cooking, as an iron one will discolor it
and injure its flavor. From twenty minutes to one hour, according to
age, is required to cook it tender.

_RECIPES._

SCALLOPED VEGETABLE OYSTERS.--Boil two quarts of sliced vegetable
oysters in about two quarts of water until very tender. Skim them out,
and fill a pudding dish with alternate layers of crumbs and oysters,
having a layer of crumbs for the top. To the water in which they were
boiled, add a pint and a half of thin cream, salt to taste, boil up, and
thicken with a heaping tablespoonful or two of flour rubbed smooth in a
little cold cream. Pour this over the oysters and crumbs, and bake a
half hour. If this is not enough to cover well, add more cream or milk.
Stewed tomatoes are a nice accompaniment for escalloped vegetable
oysters.

STEWED VEGETABLE OYSTERS.--Wash, scrape, and cut into slices not
more than one half inch in thickness. Put into a small quantity of
boiling water and cook until tender. If a large quantity of water is
used, the savory juices escape, and leave the roots very insipid. When
tender, pour in a cup of rich milk and simmer for five or ten minutes;
add a little flour rubbed smooth in milk, and salt if desired; boil up
once, and serve as a vegetable or on slices of nicely browned toast. If
preferred, a well-beaten egg may be used in the place of flour.

GREEN CORN, PEAS, AND BEANS.

DESCRIPTION.--Corn, peas, and beans in their immature state are so
nearly allied to vegetables, that we give in this conne