216 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



approach of severe cold weather. They will stand some 

 little freezing without injury, but will not live in the soil 

 over winter. They should be stored in frost-proof pits 

 or cellars. In dry cellars they should be covered with a 

 few inches of sand or other material to prevent wilting. 

 (See directions for keeping carrots.) 



Varieties. Improved Purple Top Swede and White 

 Rock are both excellent varieties of rutabagas. 



HORSE-RADISH (Nasturtium armoradd) 



Description. Native of Europe. A perennial. Flow- 

 ers white and small, in long clusters; seed vessels small, 

 rounded and almost always barren. Propagated by cuttings 

 of the roots. 



Cultivation. This plant thrives in deep, moist soil, 

 but will grow in almost any situation, and is very hardy. 

 It is customary to let it remain in some neglected corner, 

 where it kills out everything else; and though treated in 

 this way it yields sufficient roots for home use, the roots 

 are so crowded that they are scarcely salable. When grown 

 as a market crop it is planted anew each year. Straight 

 pieces of roots six or eight inches long, called "sets," are 

 planted early in the spring about twelve inches apart in 

 rows two feet apart. The roots must be set right end 

 uppermost or they will not grow smooth and straight. 

 An iron bar is the most convenient tool for planting the 

 sets. The tops of the sets should be about two inches 

 below the surface. 



It is customary to grow horse-radish as a second crop 

 after peas or cabbage, by setting the roots between the 

 the rows of the first crop and cultivating the soil without 

 regard to them until the first crop is harvested. It does 

 not seem to hurt horse-radish sets much if they are cut 



