POPULAR VARIETIES OF GARDEN VEGETABLES. 



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BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 



Brussels Sprouts is a very respectable member of the cabbage family, and 

 very nearly related to the Kales. It has a strong stem, sometimes not less 

 than four feet in height, though there is a dwarf variety that never reaches 

 more than half this height. A loose head of cabbage surmounts the stem, and 

 thus a circulation of sap is secured to the extremity, while 

 below, commencing a few inches from the ground line, are 

 numerous small heads like miniature cabbages, so thick as 

 almost to conceal the stem, and presenting the appearance 

 we have endeavored to show in the engraving. These heads 

 are very tender and of good flavor. The culture is the 

 same as for cabbage. If early plants are raised in a hot-bed, 

 they will perfect themselves in September, in the north, and 

 a later sowing should be made in the open ground, that 

 will be in perfection about the time winter commences. 

 These should be taken up and stored in a cool cellar, like 

 the cauliflower, with the roots in earth, where they will re- 

 main fit for use during the winter. Where the winters are 

 not very severe, they may remain in the ground to be cut as 

 needed, and in such places the Brussels Sprouts are of the 

 greatest value. In severe climates — climates of great ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold — the Brussels Sprouts, and some 

 other members of the cabbage family, will never be very successfully grown 

 nor become very popular; and yet there are some in every section who will think 

 us over-cautious, and we would not be surprised to receive a package of "Sprouts" 

 from the most unlikely place in the world, just to prove that we are mistaken. 

 The ability and perseverance of some persons will conquer all difficulties, and 

 this is our response, in advance. 



BEETS. 



The Beet is a favorite vegetable, 

 and is exceedingly valuable, being 

 in use almost from the time the 

 seed-leaf appears above ground un- 

 til we are looking for its appear- 

 ance the next year. The seeds 

 are in little groups or 

 clusters of calyxes, as 

 seen in the little en- 

 graving, so that each 

 rounded cluster which we call a 

 seed, really contains from two to 

 four true seeds. The consequence 

 is that the plants come up much 

 thicker than necessary, and must be 

 thinned out. There is nothing in 

 the way of "greens" as good as these 

 young Beets, and the thinnings of 

 the beds can be used as needed, from 

 the time the young plants are two 

 or three inches in length until they 

 are large enough for ordinary use. 

 To preserve the roots in fine con- 



