ROOT CULTURE. 301 



and the seed may be dropped and covered by hand. The 

 young plants bear transplanting well and vacancies may thus 

 be filled, and the proper thinning out should be finished as 

 soon as the plants are large enough to escape the cut worm. 



Beets and mangolds should be gathered before severe frosts ; 

 a temperature of 25^ safely borne by the deep growing car- 

 rots and the ruta-bagas will often blacken their crowns and 

 cause decay. Also the growth will be checked and if allowed 

 to stand and warm growing weather succeeds, the roots emit 

 new fibres, as when replanted in the spring, the sugar is trans- 

 formed into other substances, and the feeding value is dimin- 

 ished. We have often noticed this failure in sweetness in 

 the table beet when left too late in the ground. 



Stored in a cool cellar or pit beets keep well, in fact they 

 are considered to improve in quality till past midwinter. In 

 harvesting avoid breaking or bruising as much as possible. 



Ruta-bagas should be sown about June 20th in drills two 

 feet apart, and thinned to one foot in the row. In very rich 

 soil they need even more room than this. The first thinning 

 may he done with the hoe, striking through the rows, but sing- 

 ling must be done by hand. This should be done early before 

 the plants become weak from crowding, and the vacancies, if 

 large, may be filled by transplanting, but we should not fill 

 up spaces of less than two feet in the row. 



If growing well allow them to stand in the field till danger 

 that they will be frozen in, for they increase rapidly in size in 

 the cool weather of autumn. 



In harvesting trim off the tap root as it is woody and strong 

 flavored, and its presence holds dirt and favors sprouting. 

 Carefully prevent any leaves from going to the pits or cellar, 

 for in decay they emit vile odors, and if fed to milch cows 

 these and the strong tap roots are the chief cause of the bad 

 flavor sometimes given to the milk. 



Good ventilation must be provided for the pits or cellars 

 used for storing. When raised in large quantities they are 

 most conveniently saved in pits. Select a dry place and dig 

 a trench four feet wide and of any desired length, and six 

 inches deep. Pile the roots as high as possible and cover 



