BEDS. 



BEET. 



All that has been said above will be 

 apparent on examination of Figs. I to 6 

 inclusive, but if the reader will look 

 closely at each of these figures, and note 



FIG. 5. HEPTAGON. 



the effect of the dotted lines drawn across 

 them from point to point, he will see how 

 many additional regular figures may be 

 gained from them. These figures are 

 indicated by the shaded parts, the original 

 figure in each case being bounded and 

 contained by solid black lines. Thus, the 

 overlapping of two equal and similar 



FIG. 6. OCTAGON. 



equilateral triangles, as in Fig. I, forms a 

 six-pointed star, and a similar disposition 

 of two squares, as in Fig. 2, gives an 

 eight-pointed star. By drawing straight 

 lines from each point of the pentagon, as 

 shown in Fig. 3, to the extremities of the 

 gide that is opposite to it, a five-pointed 

 star, known in heraldry as a mullet, is 



obtained. A similar procedure with 

 regard to the hexagon gives a six-pointed 

 star of the same form as that shown in Fig. 

 2, or three equilateral triangles meeting in 

 a point, as shown by the shaded parts in 

 Fig. 4. Finally, by treating the heptagon 

 in the same way as the pentagon was 

 treated, a seven-pointed star is formed, 

 as in Fig. 5 ; and Fig. 6 suggests the 

 formation of four rhomboidal beds meeting 

 in a point which should be divided by an 

 intervening space of turf. 



Beech and Chief Varieties. 



Of the beech, Fagits, Fagus sylvatica, 

 the common beech, is a fine tree and 

 exceedingly useful, as it will grow well 

 in both sandy and chalky soils. It is 

 surpassed, however, by several of its 

 varieties : P. aspleniifolia, the fern-leaved 

 beech, and F. purpurea major, the large 

 purple beech, are nobler trees. 



Beet, Bed. 



This vegetable, which is generally 

 known as beetroot, should be sown at the 

 beginning of April, in deep rich ground, 

 fully exposed to the sun, and quite open 

 and away from trees. Sow the seed in 

 shallow drills, 15 inches apart, and drop 

 three or four seeds at intervals of 10 inches 

 or a foot apart, or sow thinly along the 

 drill : cover, tread, thin, and rake the 

 ground roughly with a wooden rake, 

 drawing off large stones, &c., that may 

 be on the surface. Sowing this seed in 

 drills is preferable to sowing broadcast, 

 because it not only gives greater facility 

 for thinning out and using the hoe bet ween, 

 but it insures a regular crop without 

 wasting the seed, the plants being at 

 regular distances. When the plants are 

 about a foot high, thin them to not less 

 than a foot apart, leaving the best-coloured 

 rather than the strongest plants ; for the 

 better it is, the less likely it is to grow 



