LECT. viii PROFITABLE CULTURE 117 



is a good variety. Rich ground should have a 

 dressing of lime for this serviceable crop. 



Beet. This is a profitable crop when there is a 

 demand for the roots. They sell in London for a 

 penny and three-halfpence each. If sold for sixpence 

 a dozen a good crop will be worth <70 an acre. The 

 end of April is soon enough for sowing in drills 

 the same distance apart as parsnips. An ounce of 

 seed will suffice for a length of fifty feet. The tur- 

 nip-rooted kind is good for early use, Dell's Crimson 

 or Blood Red for general purposes. Root crops 

 generally have an advantage over green crops in- 

 keeping till favourable opportunities occur for their 

 disposal. 



Tomatoes. The question is often asked, "Is the 

 tomato a fruit or a vegetable?" It is classed as a 

 vegetable. Its fruits are eaten ; but as vegetables, 

 mostly cooked, and if not cooked, not sweetened. 

 If prizes are offered for say six kinds of fruit at 

 an exhibition any collections that contained a dish 

 of tomatoes, unless specially provided for, would be 

 disqualified. 



An eminent physician, Dr. Bennett, says, " The 

 tomato is one of the most powerful deobstruents 

 of the Materia Medico, ; and in all affections of 

 the liver it is probably the most effective and least 

 harmful remedial agent known " ; also, the doctor 

 goes on to say, that " when used as an article of diet, 

 it is almost a sovereign remedy for dyspepsia and 

 indigestion." 



What wonder, then, that the demand for tomatoes 

 during the last ten years should have increased at least 

 ten thousandfold ! Under the popular name of Love- 

 apple they used to be grown for ornament only, but 

 now their production has become an industry, and 

 certain it is that vast numbers of persons may, if they 



