BEE 



BEE 



41 



as they have long, downright, 

 tap roots, which generally are the 

 most successful when they remain 

 where sown ; the method may 

 however be practised occasionally 

 by way of experiment. 



" The leaves, which if the 

 plants have large scope of room, 

 grow twelve or fifteen inches 

 broad or more, and of proportion- 

 able length, are exceedingly good, 

 when young to use as the common 

 white and green beet, and the 

 young, thick, fleshy stalks, stripped 

 of the leafy part, peeled or scrap- 

 ed, then boiled and served up 

 with butter, are tender and agree- 

 ably tasted ; also the leaves to boil 

 occasionally as spinach and other 

 small greens ; and of which the 

 root is remarkably productive in 

 quick growth, so as to afford fre- 

 quent successional gatherings all 

 summer and autumn. Only the 

 larger outward ones, should be 

 broken off, and care taken not to 

 injure the small ones in the 

 centre.'' 



Beets and other roots may be 

 preserved in winter by the follow- 

 ing method, " Take off the tops 

 and expose the roots for a few 

 hours till sufficiently dry. On the 

 surface of a very dry piece of 

 ground in a well sheltered situa- 

 tion, lay a stratum of sand two 

 inches thick, and on this a layer of 

 roots, covering them with another 

 layer of sand (the drier the better) 

 and so continue layer above layerof 

 sand and roots till all are laid in, 

 giving the whole on every side a 

 roof like slope ; then cover this 

 heap or ridge all over with about 

 two inches of sand over which lay 

 6 



' a good coat of drawn straw up and 

 down as if thatching a house in 

 order to carry off wet and prevent 

 its entering to the roots ; then dig 

 a wide trench round the heap, 

 and cover the straw with earth so 

 dug up, to a depth sufficient to pre- 

 serve the roots effectually from 

 frost. An opening may be made 

 the south side of this heap, and 

 completely covered with bundles 

 of straw, so as to have access to 

 the roots at all times, when wanted 

 either for sale or use. 



" Some people lay straw, or 

 hay, between the layers of roots 

 and immediately on the top of 

 them ; this I do not approve of, 

 as the straw or hay will become 

 damp and mouldy, and very often 

 occasion the roofs to rot, while 

 the sand would preserve them 

 sweet and sound. 



" All these roots may be pre- 

 served in like manner in a cellar; 

 but in such a place they are sub- 

 ject to vegetate and become 

 stringy earlier in spring. The 

 only advantage of this method is, 

 that in the cellar they may be 

 had when wanted more conven- 

 iently during winter, than out of 

 the field or garden heaps." 



Note. All ihe above loots will be pre- 

 served better in sand than in coinmon earth, 

 but when the former cannot be had the most 

 sandy you can procure must be used. — 



American Gardener''s Calendar, 



The following remarks respect- 

 ing the IVJangel Wurtzel or Root of 

 scarcity^ are from a paper commu- 

 nicated to the Trustees of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Soci- 

 ety, by J. Lowell, corresponding 



