RED-FLESHED GARDEN BEET 



105 



frequently brought ready boiled to the market-places. Root almost 

 cylindrical, as thick as a man's arm, and I ft. to 14 in. long, 

 growing with over one-third of its length over- 

 ground, sometimes becoming tap-rooted and 

 forked at the extremity. The colour of the 

 skin of the part covered by the soil is of a 

 uniform deep red, while the part overground 

 is more or less reddish and wrinkled. Flesh 

 deep red; leaves large and stout, green marbled 

 and veined with red ; leaf-stalks very red. The 

 large size of the roots of this variety and the 

 heavy crop which it yields recommend it as 

 the best of the kitchen-garden varieties for field 

 culture. For some time past, very red-fleshed 

 and red-juiced kinds of Beet have been much 

 sought after for various economic or manufac- 

 turing purposes, and the variety now described 

 is eminently adapted for such uses. 



Gardanne Beet, which is in high repute 

 in the south of France, comes very near this 

 variety, differing from it only by being a little 

 thicker under the neck, and growing with less 

 of the root overground. 



Long Smooth Blood-red, or Long Smooth 

 Rochester, Beet. Root very long, almost 

 cylindrical, attaining a length of 14 in., with a 

 diameter of hardly 2 in., and almost entirely 

 underground ; skin smooth and uniform, of a 

 dark red colour; flesh blackish red. A hand- 

 some variety, of good quality, and keeping well. 

 To grow well, it requires a deep, well-dug, and well-manured soil. 



Rough-skinned Red Beet-root (B. Rouge Crapaudine). One 

 of the oldest varieties, and distinguished from all the others by 

 the peculiar appearance of the skin, which is black and broken by 

 small cracks or crevices, like the bark of a young tree, or perhaps 

 still more resembling the skin of a Black Winter Radish. Root 

 rather long, almost entirely buried in the soil, and frequently some- 

 what irregular in shape ; flesh very red, sugary, and firm ; leaves 

 numerous, slightly twisted, spreading rather than erect, almost 

 entirely green, with red stalks. This variety affords a striking 

 instance of the absence of any invariable correspondence between 

 the colour of the flesh of a Beet-root and the colour of its leaves. 

 No other kind has deeper-coloured flesh than this, and yet many 

 have the leaves much more deeply tinged with red. 



The Beets known as the Little Negress of Rennes and the Red 

 Beet-root of Diorieres do not appear to differ from this variety. 



Large Blood-red Beet 

 ( natural size). 



