344 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



demands are never supplied in the large 

 cities, and but few of the smaller towns 

 ever have the roots or salad on the mar- 

 ket. No farm should be without at least 

 some plants of the horse radish as it is a 

 most valuable appetizer aud healthful food 

 assistant. 



The Bohemian and Bavarian horse rad- 

 ish is found on all hotel and public eating 

 house tables of Europe. It is served in 

 whole roots, thin shavings or the grated 

 salad form, and is regarded as one of the 

 most important items of expenditure for 

 customers. The best roots come from 

 Bayersdorf, where the growers report get- 

 ing from $250 to 300 an acre from the pro- 

 duct. They harvest as many as 10.000 

 roots from an acre and leave the mother 

 root to come out the following season and 

 make additional crops. The little village 

 has a population of probably 1,500 people 

 all depending on the growing of horse rad- 

 ish and enjoying perfect prosperity. 



Horse radish requires a good, rich loam 

 containing little clay to insure a successful 

 crop. In Europe a soil that has been first 

 loosened by a crop of clover or other long 

 fibrous roots, and left in a condition to 

 supply abundant nitrogen is preferred for 

 the root crop. The growers of the United 

 States say. that a tract of land formerly 

 cultivated to cabbage or similar clean 

 crops, is best suited to horse radish plant- 

 ing. The soil should be moist and not 

 wet, deeply plowed and well pulverized. 

 A fertilizer containing about 9 per cent 

 Potash and a similar amount of Phosp- 

 horic Acid with 4 percent nicrogen should 

 be applied in the spring, when the plants 

 are set. An other good mixture per acre 

 would be 300 to 400 pounds of ground 

 bone and 100 pounds of Muriate of Pot- 

 ash. Annual applications of similar fer- 

 tilizers must be made. 



The American plan is to plant small 

 cuttings of roots in rows about 18 inches 

 apart either way. the roots being covered by 

 6 or 8 inches of earth. In Europe the 



long roots are set in holes leaning at an- 

 angle of about 35 degrees. This is done, 

 so that the shoots may be rubbed during 

 the growing season by the thumb and fore* 

 finger, to break off any sprouts or warts 

 that might form and thus make the roots 

 clean and clear. It also gives the harvester 

 a better opportunity for cutting out the 

 roots and leaving the original mother stalk. 

 It is not ueccessary in our country to rub 

 the roots, but if they are planted after the 

 foreign plan, they can be harvested morti 

 easily. Our markets do not demand the 

 whole root, so that thej need not be per- 

 fectly smooth to grate. 



Cultivation of horse radish is an essen- 

 tial feature and the profit depends much 

 on the way this is done. The ground 

 should be kept loose on the surface and 

 the weeds and grasses kept well cleaned 

 out from the beds. If several shoots come 

 up from the root the smaller ones should 

 be carefully broken off to prevent the 

 strength of the plant coming to the top 

 rather than the root. Good roots will 

 form each year and the new ones should be 

 cut out in the fall or early in the spring, 

 before the plants are too far advanced in 

 growing. A Mattock is generally used in 

 digging the roots for home use or the mar- 

 ket. The leaves are first cut off and a 

 stroke made on either side of the plant to 

 bare the roots when those wanted are cut 

 off. leaving the mother root about one foot 

 beneath the surface. 



Marketing is best done by grinding or 

 grating the roots and thus preparing them.' 

 for the table. In the cities however the 

 whole roots are in demand, at from eight 

 to fifteen cents a pound. The grower will 

 soon learn which is the best way to get 

 into market and supply the demand ac- 

 cordingly. 



THE CULTIVATION OF TEA. 

 Tea culture is nne of the established in- 

 dustries of the Southern portion of the- 

 United States. Experiments conducted. 



