CHAPTER VI. 



RADISH. 



CORNELL EXPERIENCE.* 



THE radish is generally considered to be a vegetable 

 which may be forced without any special difficulty. The 

 prevalence of this opinion is probably due to the fact that 

 the plants are grown out of doors without any trouble, 

 and also to the still common practice of growing them in 

 hotbeds. Under these various conditions, nearly all va- 

 rieties of radishes thrive ; but, nevertheless, it is a fact 

 that the radish is one of the most sensitive of all the 

 vegetables forced for market. It is impatient in a high 

 temperature, slow and unsatisfactory in a cold one ; it 

 imperatively demands light, and the least shade causes 

 the stem to elongate so that the foliage may be as near 

 as possible to the sunshine ; it becomes tough and un- 

 palatable in poor soil, while in rich earth, with plenty of 

 moisture, it yields readily to the attacks of the various 

 damping-off fungi ; and it must be grown quickly 

 ("forced") in order to make the flesh crisp and of a 

 delicate flavor. Conditions which will meet these re- 

 quirements are not found in all forcing establishments. 

 Radishes often thrive between cucumbers, when these 

 plants are grown as a late winter crop, following lettuce. 



Sowing. Radishes are always propagated from seeds. 



*By E. G. Lodeman. More detailed results may be expected, in 

 bulletin form, when the experiments which are now in progress 

 mature. 



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