278 The Principles of Vegetable -Gardening 



but in recent years the mangel-wurzel has largely taken 

 its place. 



Vegetable - gardeners now chiefly know the early 

 turnip -rooted varieties. These varieties may be grown 

 either as a spring or fall crop. They mature in two 

 to three months, and roots large enough for bunching 

 of some of the earliest varieties may be had in six 

 weeks to two months. For fall use these turnip- 

 rooted beets may be sown in July and August, or, in 

 some places, even as late as the first of September. 

 When sown late in the season, however, it is very im- 

 portant that the land should have been well tilled 

 previous to sowing, in order that it may not be too dry. 

 The seeds require considerable moisture in order to 

 germinate. This is largely because the " seeds' 7 are 

 really fruits with hard shells, each fruit containing from 

 two to five small seeds. The husks or walls of the 

 fruit are relatively impervious to water. For the reason 

 that the fruits rather than the seeds are sown, beets are 

 likely to come up in little clumps, and careful thinning is 

 therefore essential if the best results are to be secured. 

 The long or blood beets are usually sown in early May 

 in the northern states, and they occupy the ground the 

 whole season. The early turnip varieties may be sown 

 as soon as the land can be worked in spring if one 

 wishes to secure an early crop. They may be followed 

 by some later crop, as celery, late potatoes, cabbage or 

 cauliflower. In some cases, they are grown as a com- 

 panion-crop in the rows with some main -season crop, as 

 cabbage. For very early results, it is well to sow the 

 early varieties in hotbeds or coldframes. They may 



