192 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



of maturing, and other characteristics. Among the most 

 valuable are the following: 



Eclipse, a very early, dark-red, turnip-shaped beet 

 of good quality. Valuable for early or late sowing. A favorite 

 with market gardeners. 



Egyptian, valuble for early sowing. 



Bastian's Early Turnip Beets, a valuable early sort, 

 tender, sweet and good in every way; one of the best for 

 early or late planting. 



Crosby's Egyptian, a very early blood turnip. The 

 Detroit Dark Red turnip is very easily grown. 



Diseases of Beets. The beet is subject to several 

 diseases, and it is most healthy when grown on new land. 



Beet scab is a disease which ruptures the skin of the 

 beet in a manner similar to scab on potatoes. Recent investi- 

 gations show that this disease is the same as potato scab. 

 On this account, beets should not follow potatoes on land 

 that has grown a scabby crop unless there is an interval 

 of several years between them. Beets are sometimes 

 subject to a rust that injures the foliage, but seldom very 

 seriously. 



Stock Eeets (often called mangel-wurzel). Stock beets 

 are gross feeders and prefer rich soil. They require the 

 same care as table beets, but the rows should be thirty 

 inches apart, so as to allow of cultivating them with horse 

 implements. The seed may be sown with any common 

 garden drill after first laying off the rows with a marker, 

 or it may be sown with a common grain drill by stopping 

 the flow of seed through a part of the holes. It is a very 

 good plan to sow radish or rutabaga seed with the beet 

 seed, as it starts quickly and the line of the row is thus 

 easily seen, so that cultivation may be started early. 

 This is very important in land that is somewhat weedy. 



