Garden Beet 



colour, may be sown in drills a foot or fifteen inches apart and at six 

 inches distance in the drills. We have, indeed, lifted pretty crops of 

 the smaller Beets at four inches, but it is not prudent to crowd the 

 plants, as the result will be thin roots with .long necks. 



Large Beets are sometimes required, and are usually of a lighter 

 colour and less rich in flavour than the smaller kinds. In growing 

 these a layer of fat manure may be put at the bottom of the trench, 

 as for Salsify and Parsnips on poor land. The ground need not be 

 made up in beds for these, and the seed may be sown broadcast. 

 But we prefer the neater method of beds with alleys and drills, putting 

 the seeds in rows one foot apart and two inches deep. The seed is 

 sometimes dibbled in, but a better plant is obtained by drilling. The 

 greatest care should be taken to keep the crop clean, and to thin to 

 single plants in good time. 



A Beet crop may be left in the ground during the winter if aided 

 by a covering of litter during severe frost. But it is safer out of the 

 ground than in it, and the proper time to lift is when a touch of 

 autumn frost has been experienced. Dry earth or sand, in sufficient 

 quantity, should be ready for the storing, and a clamp in a sheltered 

 corner will answer if shed room is scarce. In any case, a dry and 

 cool spot is required, for damp will beget mildew, and warmth will 

 cause growth. In cutting off the tops before storing, take care not 

 to cut too near the crown, or injurious bleeding will follow. On the 

 other hand, the long fang-like roots may be shortened without harm, 

 for the slight bleeding that will occur at that end will not affect more 

 than the half-inch or so next to the cut part. A little experience will 

 teach anyone that Beets must be handled with care, or the goodness 

 will run out of them. Many cooks bake Beets because boiling so 

 often spoils them ; but if they are in no way cut or bruised, and are 

 plunged into boiling water and kept boiling for a sufficient length of 

 time half an hour to two hours, according to size there will be but 

 a trifling difference between boiling and baking. 



On stony shallow soils, where it is difficult to grow handsome 

 long Beets, the Globe variety may be tried with the prospect of a 

 satisfactory result. We have in hot seasons found this useful on a 

 damp clay where fine specimens of long Beet were rarely obtainable. 

 From this same unkind clay it is possible to secure perfect crops 

 of long Beets, by making deep holes with a dibber a foot apart and 

 filling these with sandy stuff from the compost yard and sowing the 

 seed over them. It is a tedious process, but it benefits the land for 

 the next crop, and the Beets pay for it in the first instance. 



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