116 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL ROCTETY. 



Iiotli. Carrots sometimes share the space on tlio ridges ; and some, 

 in cnitiVatin*; cabbages, place a plant of horse-radish between 

 each cabliage and its neighbor, and so get quite a good crop; but 

 I do not think this is as profitable a wa}' as on ridges. 



It is prepared for table use by grating up and putting into bot- 

 tles. It niiiy be either dug up with the spade, or ploughed out 

 when as much as a row is wanted at a time ; the latter is the best 

 way, because it gets out all the roots. It is sold by weight, or in 

 bunches, or by the barrel. 



RiiuBAur.. — This is now quite extensively grown, both in field 

 culture and by forcing under glass. The plants are sometimes 

 grown from the seed ; or eyes may be taken from old plants. By 

 the latter plan one year's time is saved. They are set about four 

 feet apart each way, on well prepared land ; which should be of a 

 light porous character. If the land is heavy it will retard the growth 

 of the crop somewhat, and a few days' time in getting into market 

 sometimes makes a difference of one-half in the pi'ice ol)tained. 

 The stalks ought never to be pulled the first year, as it requires 

 one year for the plants to get established. 



This is one of the first out-door crops to come into market ; as 

 the first pulling is usually made, in this vicinity, about the last of 

 April or the first of May, and the stalks continue to furnish a sup- 

 ply until about the first of July, or for a senson of two months. 



For marketing it is put up in bundles, varying in weight from fif- 

 teen to forty pounds, the weight increasing as the season advances. 

 It is sold only Ijy weight: the price varying from one to two cents 

 per pound ; and at this price an acre would return from three hun- 

 dred to four hundred dollars. In the fall, after the tops die down, 

 a coat of manure is J.'iven, and the following spring this is lightly 

 turned under with a fork. It will not do to put a i)lougii iu, on 

 account of disturbing the roots. 



When the crop is forced it may be done either by taking up the 

 plants and setting thickly in hot-beds or hot-houses, or by having 

 the plants in the ground about three feet apart, and setting frames 

 over them so as to force their growth. In the last mentioned 

 method the glass is put on the beds about the first of February. 

 The price of the forced crop varies even more than that of out- 

 door growth, so that it would be impossible to estiniali' the pro- 

 ceeds very exactly; but live dollars i)er sasii, three foet by six, 

 would be a fair estimate. 



