278 



THE CA.NADIAN HORTICULTUKIST. 



De wing's Tiimip Beet to keep well until ! 

 the new crop is ready. The longer 

 sorts, however, are more productive, 

 and a small bed will therefore give a 

 larger supply, which is often very desi- 

 rable to those whose garden is small. 

 Among the half-long kinds none are 

 better than the Common Half-long and 

 Bastian's Half-long. The latter is quite 

 distinct, and of a fine, dank color. The 

 Deep Red Castelnandary and Rough- 

 skinned belong to the half-long class, 

 but do not seem to have become popular. 

 Pine-ftqyple is also a half-long of great 

 merit, with very dark red foliage and 

 roots. 



The long-rooted Beets have i-ather 

 gone out of fashion, except with old- 

 fashioned gardeners ; yet we never had 

 a better Beet than the old Long Smooth 

 Dark Blood Beet. It is still a favorite 

 with many, and, if the strain of this 

 Beet has been kept pure and well 

 selected, it is especially to be recom- 

 m3nded to those who grow for exhibi- 

 tion. And, by the way, nothing looks 

 nicer at a fair than a well grown and 

 well displayed show of Beets. It al- 

 ways attracts attention, and deserves it. 



It will not do, in an article like this, 

 to omit the Field Beets ; but the list, if 

 I were to choose it, would not be long. 

 Lane's Improved Sugar Beet and the 

 Yellom Ovoid Mangold seem to me the 

 best, though for shallow soils the Red 

 or Yellow Globes may be preferred. The 

 Long Red Mangold is a nuis<ince, in my 

 opinion, both in the field and in the 

 cellar, sprawling aix)und, " all over 

 everything," and as crooked as the old 

 lady's fire-wood, which she said was 

 " so cix>oked that it could not lie still." 

 Yet many grow it without complaint. 



The Chard Beets do not seem to be 

 very popular, and some seedsmen do 

 not offer them at all. But since the 

 Beet Anthomijia fly, with its nasty, 

 white little grubi feeding upon the 



leaves, have put an end to Beet Greens, 

 I cannot but advise the planting of 

 Chards, the thick mid-ribs, or char;]s, 

 of which are an excellent summer sub- 

 stitute for Asparagus, and are, when 

 well grown, as tender and as rapidly 

 reproduced as Spinach. A good variety 

 is the Swiss CJmrd ; but, on the author- 

 ity of that most excellent authority, my 

 own and the ])ublic's friend, Mr. C. G. 

 Pringle, I recommend, as still better, 

 Beck's Improved Sea-kale Bi et, wliich is 

 quite a curiosity among Beets, the leaf 

 stalks being very broad and thick, and 

 about a foot long, exceedingly tender 

 and fine flavored. I do not think our 

 gardening frio ds can afford to neglect 

 these varieties if they mean to have 

 " all the delicacies of the season." — Dr. 

 T. H. HoSKlxNS, in American Garden. 



DO NOT WASTE BONES. 



The bones of fish, bones of fowls, the 

 large and small pieces of bones which 

 are purchased with beef steak and 

 mutton, constitute the very best food 

 for fruit trees and grape vines, if the 

 fragments are only placed where the 

 roots can lay hold of them. Instead of 

 allowing pieces of bones to be cast into 

 the backyard, as food for stray dogs and 

 strange cats, domestics should be dir- 

 ected to deposit every thing of the sort 

 in a small tub provided with a lid. As- 

 soon as only a few {)ounds have accum- 

 ulated, we take the tub to some grape 

 vine or fruit tree, dig a hole three or 

 more feet long, a foot or two wide, and 

 not less than a foot deep, into which 

 the bones are dumjxid, spread over the 

 bottom of the excavation, and covered 

 with the soil. The more the fragments 

 can be spread around, the better. But 

 they should be burie<l so deep that a 

 plow or spade will not reach them. The 

 iX)ots of growing vines or fruit trees will 

 soon find the valuable mine of rich 

 fertility, and will feed on tlie elements 



