BER 



BET 



ji? gTccnisii : the berries arc at first green, but 

 ■Rlicn ripe turn to a fine rvjil colour. It is a 

 native ot most parts of ihc East, &e. flowering 

 in Mav and ripenins;; llic truit in Scpteuibi-r. 



There are several varieties : as witli red truit, 

 and slonv seeds ; wiili n d stonele>s tVuit ; with 

 while truit ; and with blaek tiviit. 



The seeond species never rises higher tlian 

 three or tour feet in this climate. It sends 

 out nianv stalks from the root, which are 

 stronglv armed with spines at every joint : the 

 leaves are produced without order, and arc 

 shaped like those of thcNavrow-lcawd Box-tree : 

 tlie llowers come out from between the leaves, 

 each upon a slender peduncle, hut these are not 

 succeeded by fruii here. It is a native of Crete, 

 tlowering in April and Mav. 



Culture. — The best method of propasrating 

 these shrubs is by layers, which should iie laid 

 down in the autumn, as soon as the leavers be- 

 Sin to drop otV; the young aimuaJ shoots l)cing 

 made use of for the purpose. They should he 

 left till the following autumn, when they niay 

 be taken oft" and planted out in the situations 

 where thev are to remain. They may also be 

 increased by suckers, which rise annually from 

 their roots, but the plants produced in this way 

 are more liable afterwards to send up such 

 suckers. 



Cuttinffs of the voung shoots will likewise 

 often strilce root and form good plants, when 

 planted out in the spring, and properly supplied 

 with water. These may be set out in the fol- 

 lowing spring where they are to grow. 



Thev are also capable of being raised by sow- 

 ing the seed in beds of common earth in the 

 autumn; and when the plants have attained 

 one or two vears growth, being removed into 

 the nursery, and planted out in row? a foot apart, 

 and eieht or ten inches from plant to plant. 

 Thev should be kept perfeetlv clean from weed?. 



When plants of this sort are intended to fruit, 

 they should be planted singly in an open situa- 

 tiori, and the suckers that may be thrown up 

 careluUv removed annually in the autunm, as 

 well as all such gross shoots as may be useless 

 pruned out. By this means the fruit will be 

 rendered finer and more plentiful than under 

 other circumstances. 



In the second species, the layers, after beins 

 taken off, should be planted out in pots, .and 

 protected in the winter in frames, till they have 

 attained a suffiiientlv hardy growth to be set out 

 in wami situations in the open ground. 



The principal culture which these .fhriibs re- 

 quire afterwards, is that of keeping their strag- 

 gling shoots cut in annually. 



ilicse shrubs may be planted out towards the 



back parts of large borders or clumps in pleasure-* 

 grounds, in nnxture with other |)laiits of ihe 

 3eeiduoll^ kind, ai the fruit has a line cfl'eet in 

 the latter end of siuiimer, and in ihc autumn. 

 It also coiiviilutes an extellent piekir, and an 

 elegvnt garr.i.-h. 



Tli.y are likewise sometimes planted so as to 

 form .1 »ort of hedne. 



'liio latter species is more rare and curious 

 than ;hc former. 



BKI'A, a genus comprising difTcrent plants 

 of the hardy eseident biennial kind. 



It belongs to the class and urder PcntariJiin 

 Disi/iiia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Holoracccp. 



The characters are : the calyx is a (ivc-leavcd, 

 coneave, permanent periauthium ; the divisions 

 ovate-obiong and obtuse : there is no eori.Ila : 

 the stamina consist of tive subulate (ilamenis, 

 oppor.ite to the leaves of the calyx, and of 

 the same length with them : tl'.e anthers are 

 roundish : the pistillum is a cerm in a manner 

 below the receptacle : the styles are two, vt.y 

 short and erect : the stigmas are acute : the pe- 

 riearpium is a capsule w ithin the bottom of tfi* 

 c^lyx, one-celled and deciduous : the seed 

 single, kidney-formed, compressed and involved 

 in the calyx. 



The species principally cultivated in the gar- 

 den arc: 1. B. lulgarU, Red Garden Beet. 

 C. B. cida, White Garden Beet. 



The first has large thick succulent leaves, 

 which are for the most part of a dark red or pur- 

 ple colour : the roots are large, and of a deep 

 red ; on which circumstances their goodnes* 

 depends ; for, the larger they grow the more 

 tender they will be, and the deeper their colour 

 the more they are esteemed. It is a native of 

 the southern parts of Europe. 



There are varieties of this which principally 

 ditftr in the size and colour of tiieir leaves; as 

 with long dark red root; with turnip root; witlt 

 short, large, dark red root ; and w ith red root 

 and green leaves. 



In the second sort the root seldom throws 

 larger than a man's thumb : the stalks ri'ic 

 erect, and have oblong spear-shaped leaves 

 growinn close to the stalk : the spikes of flow ers 

 are axilTarv, lone, and have narrow leaves plaeiil 

 between the flow ers : the lower leaves arc thick 

 and succulent, and their foot-st.ilks broad : it 

 is chiefly cultivated for these ; the leaves being 

 boiled as spinach, or put into soups, and the 

 stalks and midrib of the leaf stewed and eaten 

 as asparagus. 



There are three varieties of this : the White- 

 leaved, the (jnen-lcaved, and the Swiss or 

 Chard Beet. 1 he las} is probably the large va-^ 



