DAMSON

a general name for small-leaved, small-fruited plums—the form to which the common plums generally revert when they run wild. The typical orchard damson is oval, blue or ‘‘black,’’ and of firm, juicy, amber flesh. It is delicious cooked —for filling pies, ete., and as a thick preserve—but is generally too astringent to be enjoyed raw.; DANDELION, one of the most common and familiar of spring plants, and entitled to much higher place than it at present holds in general estimation here. Perhaps because of exce ive familiarity with it as a weed, and partly also in some sections beeause it is regarded as of e entially medicinal properties, the average person ignores its manifold virtues and po ibilities as a salad-plant, alone or with others, but John Evelyn placed it among his famous seventy-three salad herbs and European gardeners and cooks have made it fashionable on the other side of the Atlantic. In this country, also, it is now cultivated by some eastern market-gardeners, being raised in hothouses between seasons. The varieties grown are generally improved large-leaved types, some of them beautifully curled. The ordinary green leaves are best used as greens—in any style suitable for spinach—and are particularly pleasing to many palates if cooked with an equal quantitv of sorrel. They should be eut young, though even mature leaves of the common wild dandelion will serve acceptably if washed and macerated in several waters to remove any undesirable exce of bitterne . The choicest result—delicious, crisp, white leaves of high salad merit—is seeured by blanching young garden plants—tying around, and covering with sand or otherwise—or from strong roots potted and set to grow in a warm, dark cellar, the shoots then resembling Barbe de Capucin (see Cuicory, Etc., AS VEGETABLES AND Sanaps). In addition to all the ordinary dietetic merits of greens, the dandelion is especially rich in iron (see Foop Vatu ). ‘‘Dandelion coffee’’ and ‘‘dandelion chocolate’? are made from the roasted and ground root. The ‘‘coffee’’ is a mixture of ordinary coffee and dandelion root powder, or extract. The ‘‘chocolate’”’ contains one-fifth chocolate and four-fifths root.