CHAPTER VI 

 THE GARDEN BEET AND ITS KIN 



HAVE you ever gone out into your garden and 

 pulled a good panful of little beets, to thin the 

 crowding globular roots, and incidentally to have 

 for dinner a dish of beets, boiled, tops and all, 

 and dressed with a little vinegar to temper their 

 sweetness? Or have you bought from market, or 

 from your favorite vegetable man at the back 

 door, red beets, none bigger than a hen's egg, 

 smooth, fine-grained in flesh, that came to the table 

 sliced and sizzling in their ruddy juice, seasoned 

 with salt, pepper, sugar, and butter? Another 

 thrill of the same sort comes when mother opens, 

 as a special treat, a can of those tender little beets 

 she put away in spiced vinegar. Can you name 

 a vegetable that matches young beets in delicacy 

 of flavor, or in beauty of color when served on the 

 table? 



All the year round beets are to be had in market, 

 for they are kept in root cellars all winter, and 

 there are spring, summer, and fall varieties that 



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