Tumbledown Farm .9 Acres (give or take an acre or two)

OXALIS, TUBEROUS-ROOTED. -- Law.

Of the Tuberous-rooted Oxalis there are two varieties, as follow:--

White-rooted. Oca Blanca.

Stem two feet in length, branching, prostrate or trailing; the ends of the shoots erect; leaves trifoliate, yellowish-green, the leaflets inversely heart-shaped; flowers rather large, yellow, -- the petals crenate or notched on the borders, and striped at their base with purple. The seeds are matured only in long and very favorable seasons. In its native state, the plant is perennial, but is cultivated and treated, like the common potato, as an annual.

Cultivation. --The tubers should be started in a hot-bed, in March, and transplanted to the open ground in May, or as soon as the occurrence of settled warm weather. They thrive best in dry, light, and medium fertile soils, in warm situations, and should be planted in hills two feet and a half apart, or in drills two feet and a half apart, setting the plants or tubers an inch and a half deep, and fifteen or eighteen inches apart in the drills, treating in all respects as potatoes.

The tubers form late in the season; are white, roundish, or oblong, pointed at the union with the plant, and vary in size according to soil, locality, and season, seldom, however,
OXALIS, TUBEROUS-ROOTED. 37
exceeding an inch in diameter, or weighing above four ounces. The yield is comparatively small.

Use. --The tubers are used as potatoes. When cooked, the flesh is yellow, dry, and mealy, of the flavor of the potato, with a slight acidity. The tender, succulent stalks and foliage are used as salad.

Oxalis, Red-rooted. Oca Colorada.

Plant similar in habit to the White-rooted; but the branches, as well as the under surface of the leaves, are more or less stained with red. Tubers larger than those of the last named, roundish, tapering towards the connection with the plant, and furnished with numerous eyes, in the manner of the common potato; skin smooth, purplish-red; flesh often three-colored, --the outer portion of the tuber carmine-red, the central part marbled, and the intermediate portion yellow, --the colors, when the root is divided transversely, appearing in concentric zones, or rings. The flesh contains but little farinaceous matter, and possesses a certain degree of acidity, which, to many palates, is not agreeable.

It is propagated, and in all respects cultivated, like the White. Either of the varieties may also be grown from cuttings, which root readily.

According to a statement from the London Horticultural Society's Journal, the acidity may be converted into a sugary flavor by exposing the tubers to the action of the sun for eight or ten days, --a phenomenon which is analogous to what takes place in the ripening of most fruits. When treated in this form, the tubers lose all trace of acidity, and become as floury as the best descriptions of potatoes. If the action of the sun is continued for a long period, the tubers become of the consistence and sweet taste of figs. Mr. Thompson states that the disagreeable acid taste may also be removed by changing the water when they are three quarters boiled.

The plants are tender, and are generally destroyed early in autumn by frost. The tubers must be taken up before freezing weather, packed in sand, and placed in a dry, warm cellar for the winter.

Deppe's Oxalis. Thomp. Vil. Oxalis Deppei.

A perennial plant from Mexico, very distinct from the tuberous-rooted species before described. Stalk about one foot in height, smooth and branching; leans four together, the leaflets wedge-shaped, pale yellowish-green, the upper surface marked by two brownish lines or stains in the form of two sides of a triangle; flowers terminal, of a carmine-rose or pink-red color, stained with green at the base of the petals. The roots are fusiform, three or four inches long, nearly an inch and a half in diameter, white and fleshy, and surmounted with numerous small scales or bulbs, which serve for propagation.

Soil and Culture. --The plant succeeds best in rich, warm, mellow soil; and, though it may be raised from seed, is usually propagated from the small bulbs, which are set early in May, six or eight inches apart, in shallow drills fifteen inches asunder.

As the whole season will be required for their full perfection, the roots should be allowed to remain in the ground till danger from freezing, when they should be harvested, packed in dry sand, and stored in the cellar for the winter. The plant has been cultivated with the most complete success with no especial preparation of the soil; merely planting the bulbs in shallow drills, the ground being dug and manured as for other kitchen-garden crops.

Use. --The roots are eaten boiled, and served as asparagus; and the young leaves, which have a pleasant acid taste, are used as salad, as are also the flowers.

It is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental plant.