Okra

“ Soil and Its Preparation.—The soil upon which okra can be most successfully grown is a rich mellow loam, plowed rather deeply and well worked over with pulverizing tools. After the seedlings become established and the roots get a firm hold of the soil, the growth is very rapid and a large amount of available plant food, especially of a nitrogenous nature, is required. Quick-acting commercial fertilizers may be applied in moderate quantities, but these should be well mixed with the soil. The same conditions that will produce good cotton or corn will be found suitable for the production of okra. ”

“ The ground for okra should be thoroughly enriched and 130 well cultivated. Make a furrow about an inch deep, and if only a home supply is wanted, about thirty feet long. Sow the seeds two inches apart in rows and cover. Thin to eighteen inches apart when the seedlings are about two inches high. If more than one row is to be grown, make them two and a half feet apart. ”

“ Okra:—Although the okra makes a very strong plant—and incidentally is one of the most ornamental of all garden vegetables— the seed is quickly rotted by wet or cold. Sow not earlier than May 25th, in warm soil, planting thinly in drills, about one and a half inches deep, and thinning to a foot or so; cultivate as with corn in drills. All pods not used for soup or stems during summer may be dried and used in winter. ”

“ After the leaves begin to shade the ground, very little cultivation is necessary except to keep the land free from weeds. A poor soil and insufficient moisture will yield pods of inferior size and quality, and irrigation may often be desirable in order to produce a marketable crop. Okra is sometimes grown as a mixed crop with cotton, the okra being removed before the cotton begins to mature ”

“ Okra Stew (Greek)
3⁄4 quart okra (fresh) 11⁄2 cups tomato (canned) 1 small onion 3⁄4 cup lamb (cut in small pieces) 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper 4 tablespoons olive oil 1⁄4 cup water 1⁄2 lemon Put meat in hot oil and fry until nearly cooked, adding onion, chopped fine. Have whole okra cleaned, washed, sprinkled with salt, and dried in the sun for half an hour. Wash the salt away and add to the meat, together with the tomato, water, lemon, salt, and pepper. Cover well and cook over a rather slow fire. ”

“ The only food that was given to me consisted of the seeds of the okra (which is indigenous on the coast) , flavored by being boiled with the legs and wings of quails, and small bits of dried manitee flesh. I only outraged the notions of my rude physicians in one respect, viz., in insisting on being allowed to wash myself. The Indians seem to think that the effect of water on the body, or any part of it, during the period of a fever, is little less than mortal—a singular notion, which may have some foundation in experience, if not in reason. ”

“ They should receive the same culture as okra or corn, thorough cultivation and water if the season is unduly dry. At the approach of severe weather the tops should be cut off close to the crown and the plants banked up with coal ashes, which should be removed in the spring before growth begins. ”

“ In this instance practically every flower in the field was visited and pollinated, although no pollen had previously been transferred. This observation demonstrated the necessity of great care to prevent cross-pollination. Our variety tests with okra have shown that seed growers have not always succeeded in keeping the varieties separate, and as a result there has been a gradual blending together of all the sorts. In many of the samples all the sorts usually grown are represented. ”

“ Chicken okra soup. Remove the breast from a raw fowl, and with the remainder make a chicken broth. Cut the breast in small dices, put in vessel with a chopped onion and a chopped green pepper and a small piece of butter, simmer till onion is soft, then add the chicken broth, two peeled tomatoes cut in small dices, or some canned tomatoes, salt and pepper. Let boil slowly for one-half hour, then add one pound of okra cut in pieces three-quarters of an inch in length, and cook until okra is soft. Add one teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce and a cup of boiled rice and serve with chopped parsley. ”

“ Soil, Sowing, and Cultivation.—Okra may be raised in any common garden soil, and is propagated by seeds sown in April or May. The Dwarf varieties may be grown in rows two feet apart, and a foot from each other in the rows; but the taller sorts require a space of at least three feet between the rows, and nearly two feet from plant to plant in the rows. Keep the soil about the plants loose and open; and, in the process of cultivation, earth up the stems slightly in the manner of earthing pease. The pods will be fit for use in August and September. ”

“ Okra is a semi-tropical plant, so is better not sown until the second week in May. Once started, it grows very rapidly, yields and continues a supply of pods throughout the season. The flowers are large and rather pretty, but only last a few hours; after they fall it takes about twelve hours for a pod to develop sufficiently for gathering. To be in perfect condition for cooking they should not be much more than an inch long. Any surplus quantity can be dried or canned for winter use. ”

“ Okra that is getting too large to be left ungathered, a few string or lima beans, carrots that are crowded—anything in the vegetable line that lends itself to the concoction of a palatable soup may be utilized and so make the garden just that much more remunerative. ”

“ The first is a small-flowered mallow, whose period is from September to October—it is much relished by the poorer Egyptians as a cooked vegetable resembling spinach; purslane is another very easily-grown plant, whose period is from March to September; Jews’ mallow, too, is a vegetable greatly esteemed by the natives. This is cultivated, and also found growing wild in the fields. It is much in demand as a summer vegetable. Okra is another dish held in high estimation; it is not difficult to grow, and forms a good paying crop. ”

“ Follow them in ten minutes with a pint of tender okra sliced—next add a little later the pulp from a dozen ears of green corn, slit lengthwise and scraped. Stir almost constantly with a long-handled skimmer, after the corn pulp is in. If the skimmer brings up chicken bones, throw them aside. Just before serving put in a large spoonful of butter, rolled in flour. Taste, add salt if required. Serve very hot with corn hoe cake and cider just beginning to sparkle. If there is soup enough for everybody, nothing else will be wanted. ”

“ Okra or Gumbo (Hibiscus esculentus) is a generally used food plant most commonly employed in soups in the East and West Indies and also in the southern United States. It was anciently grown in tropical Africa and Egypt, and is now [131] diffused in tropical countries and in the southern United States.
Onion (Allium Cepa) is extensively cultivated throughout the world, and is grown in every state in the United States, New York and Ohio leading in production. Bermuda and Spanish varieties are now grown in California. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians ”

“ They have likewise around their houses a kind of kitchen gardens, in which they plant an eatable hibiscus or okra, potatoes, yams, and other roots. We sowed for their use some wheat, barley, oats, rice, maize, onions, and pot herbs of all kinds. We have reason to believe that these plantations will be taken care of; for this nation appeared to love agriculture, and would I believe be easily accustomed to make advantage of their soil, which is the most fertile in the universe. ”

“ An illustration of a cassava field is given (Fig. 7) . Two or three kinds of beans are planted, though not extensively in spite of a good local demand for them. Okra (Hibiscus esculentus) , cultivated for the edible fruit pods, indigo (Indigofera sp.) employed for making the local blue dye, and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) , are planted near houses. A photograph is given exhibiting the different utensils required for the preparation of indigo, and cakes of the dried and fermented indigo stalks, in the form in which they are preserved, are shown suspended in the illustration (Fig. 8) . ”

“ The cocoa-nuts, or the fruit of the cocos nuciferacocos nucifera, Linn. is too well known to want any description. The plantains, or fruit of the musa paradisiacaparadisiaca, Linn. is likewise well known to all navigators, as the produce of hot countries. The bread-fruit is a production of a tree not yet described by Dr. Linnæus; Lord Anson found it upon the isle of Tinian; Dampier and the great Ray take notice of this very useful and curious tree. Yams are the roots of a plant known under the name of dioscorea alata. The okra is the fruit of the hibiscus esculentus, Linn. ”

“ Although in the other countries the allied plants are cultivated, they are invariably grown upon a small scale, and are only seen in small patches adjoining houses, or cultivated as a mixed crop with peppers, okra, etc.; in Northern Nigeria fairly extensive tracts are planted, and the crop is treated as carefully as the food crops in the vicinity. In Ilorin, Kabba, and Bassa the seeds are sown on ridges in drills a few inches apart, each drill having four to six plants in it. ”

“ In addition to rubber, cocoa and kola plantations might prove successful in the same localities, but as yet no large plantations of either exist.
In the Eastern Province farming is generally of poor quality until the region of heavy rainfall is left, when extremely large areas are met with, highly cultivated, with the earth thrown up into loose mounds, often five or six feet in height, for the purpose of growing yams, maize, pepper, okra, Guinea corn, pumpkins, etc., all of which are found planted upon each mound ”

“ It is less symmetrical in nature than under cultivation, as in the Santa Clara Valley and Santa Barbara, California, where a few specimens may be found. Another species of oak, Quercus ballota, of no great commercial importance, provides the source of the acorns in general use among the natives for food. The acorns are found in all markets, even (as in Ouargla and Ghardaia) where transportation for considerable distance is necessary; they are less astringent and hence more pleasant than those of most species. ”

“ The coco palm differs so greatly from any of the trees of our temperate zone that its habit of growth and its manner of flowering and fruiting are of considerable interest. It is always produced from seed. For this purpose the mature coconuts are set out to sprout in beds on the ground, ordinarily under partial shade. The East Indian hangs them in baskets or ties them to poles or to the limbs of a tree. They are never embedded entirely in the soil till ready to plant, which is in about a year, when the roots have penetrated the husk and the first leaves have appeared. ”

“ The acorn must produce an oak, and nothing else. The grain of wheat must always produce its kind. The offspring of man must always bear his image, and always exhibit the same fundamental characteristics, not only in his corporeal nature, but also in his mental constitution.19
But the germination of every seed depends on conditions ab extra, and all germs are modified, in their development, by geographical and climatal surroundings. The development of the acorn into a mature and perfect oak greatly depends on the exterior conditions of soil, and moisture, light, and heat. ”

“ In fact, several other vegetable productions are now employed to escape the punishment of a dose of this violent cathartic. Among many I could enumerate, but without any benefit arising from the list, is the “kolah,” the same berry which is used in making the “barilla” tedge, also the red berries of a climbing plant called “inkoko,” growing in the forest at the foot of the hill of Kundi, near Michael wans. These are swallowed whole, like pills, but a very great number are required to produce the desired results. ”

“ Among these are several species of káchang or bean, the cotton plant, the indigo, and a variety of cucumbers, &c. But the more generally useful and profitable vegetables require nearly the same period as the rice, and only yield their increase once in a season: they mostly grow in situations, on which the supply of water can be regulated, and a continued inundation prevented. Among the most important are the gúdé, káchang pénden, or káchang chína, káchang íju, kédéle, jágung or Indian corn, jágung chántel, jáwa-wút, jáli, wíjen, járak or palma christi, térong, and kéntang jáwa. ”

“ The Indians pay great attention to the cultivation of the oca; its vine resembles the bean plant. Proceeding still further, we met with good pasture for cattle. The oxen were in fine condition, equal to those in the valley below. Here the Indians and their families live the year round, cultivating their little gardens for the markets of Cochabamba. Our mules are wet with perspiration, and we gain an uncultivated and uninhabited region, clothed in a thick sod of mountain grasses. ”

“ Orchids.—For the successful cultivation of a mixed collection of tropical orchids, it is necessary that two or three houses, in which different temperatures can be maintained, should be provided. The greater number of them are epiphytes or plants that grow on others without absorbing nourishment from them, and heat and moisture afford all or nearly all the nourishment they require. At one time it was thought the plants themselves were better for being associated with such objects as ferns and palms, but they are best grown by themselves. ”