140 



BEDDING 



BEET 



from the larger picture, and because the lawn is the 

 canvas upon which the landscape gardener makes his 

 picture. The chief merit of beds is their attractiveness 

 and brightness, which accounts for their presence in 

 parks and public places. On the other hand, they are 

 expensive, and they are at their best only two or three 

 months in the year, while a mud-hole in a lawn for 

 nine months of the year is an unsightly object. Formal 

 beds, especially of foliage plants, with their gaudy colors 

 and unchanging monotony, are considered by some the 

 most unnatural and the least artistic style of garden- 

 ing. Nevertheless, they require a high degree of techni- 

 cal skill, which deserves appreciation. 



A few practical suggestions may be given for making 

 a bed. The soil should be rich and full of vegetable 

 matter. If a foot or 18 in. of the surface soil is so poor 

 that it must be removed, it may be replaced by two parts 

 of fibrous loam and one of well-rotted manure, with 

 some upturned broken sods in the bottom for drainage. 

 The fall is the proper time to apply manure, and if the 

 bed be thoroughly spaded over and left rough during 

 the winter, the alternate freezing and thawing will fine 

 both the soil and the fiber of the manure. Beginners 

 nearly always fail to supply perfect conditions for wa- 



200. Plan ot a complex carpet bed. 



tering. A midsummer mulch of half -rotted manure en- 

 ables the plants to take all the moisture they need dur- 

 ing the drought and to keep it. The soil should be in ideal 

 condition before the plants are set into it., mellow, 

 rich, full of fiber, and of firm and uniform texture. 

 Begin in the middle and work toward the edges. When 

 the bed is finished, give it one thorough soaking, to settle 

 the soil at the roots. ROBERT SHORE. 



BEECH. See Fagus. 



BEECHER, HENRY WARD (1813-1887). The cele- 

 brated American clerygyman and orator deserves espe- 

 cial remembrance for his work as editor of the Western 

 Farmer and Gardener in pioneer days of western horti- 

 culture. A selection of his contributions was printed in 

 1859 as a book of 420 pp., entitled "Plain and Pleasant 

 Talk About Fruits, Flowers and Farming." A second 

 edition was published in 1874 as "Pleasant Talk, etc.," a 

 book of 498 pp., containing also articles written for the 

 New York Ledger. These papers have a higher literary 

 quality than is usual in horticultural writings, and are 

 still entertaining and suggestive. They did much to 

 spread the taste for country life and gardening. 



BEET. There are 4 or. 5 species of the genus Beta, 

 which are sometimes cultivated under the name of 

 Beet, but Beta vulgaris, Linn., is the only one of practi- 

 cal importance. From it all our common garden varie- 

 ties are derived. According to DeCandolle, the aborigi- 



201. Bassano Beet. 



nal slender-rooted species is found in sandy soil, and 

 especially near the sea, throughout southern Europe, 

 and on nearly all the coasts of the Mediterranean. It 

 also occurs as far eastward as the Caspian Sea and 

 Persia. "Everything shows that its cultivation does not 

 date from more than two or three 

 centuries before the Christian era." 

 It is now highly improved, princi- 

 pally in the one direction of large 

 and succulent roots, and is much 

 esteemed in all civilized countries. 

 See Seta. 



Young Beets constitute one of the 

 most important early crops in truck - 

 gardening. Many acres of them are 

 grown near all the city markets, and 

 as they bear transportation well, they 

 are often grown at comparatively 

 remote places. Large quantities are 

 shipped early from Norfolk, Va., and 

 from other southern points to north- 

 ern markets. Like all root crops, the 

 Beet needs a loose, light, fresh, 

 clean, rich soil, which must be in the best condition 

 of tillage. No fermenting manure should be used, but 

 instead fully rotted barn manure, with some good pot- 

 ash fertilizer.^ The seed for the first crop is sown 

 early in spring, as soon as the soil can be well 

 worked. Where intensive gardening is practiced, the 

 drills may be as fclose as 1 ft. apart, in which case the 

 young Beets are thinned to 6 in. apart in the row. But 

 in ordinary gardening, it will be found most convenient 

 to run the rows 2-3 ft. apart, allowing cultivation with 

 the horse. The plants in such rows can be left 4 in. 

 apart at thinning time. The thinning is clone when 

 the young plants are large enough to be pulled for 

 "greens," for which purpose they find a ready market. 

 Beets are also grown in quantities as a fall crop, and 

 are stored for winter use. When this is to be done, the 

 seed is sown in June, and the plantation is managed in 

 all respects like the spring sowing. Beets are some- 

 times forced in greenhouses, but as they are hardly 

 profitable, they are grown only in vacant spaces or after 

 other crops are out. When the young roots are ready 

 for the early market, they are pulled and tied in bunches 

 of five or six. The fall crop is pulled soon after the first 

 frost, the tops are removed, and the roots stored in pits 

 or root cellars. 



The most popular varietal types of the garden Beet are 

 the following : Bassano ( Fig. 201 ) . - Flesh white and light 

 red mixed ; an old-time early variety, now less grown 

 than formerly. Early Blood Turnip . Rich, deep blood- 

 red, flattened turnip-shape ; an old and well-known 

 sort. Edmand. Moderate size ; handsome, rounded, 

 smooth, deep red ; good grain and flavor ; not quite 

 first early. Eclipse. Uniformly globular, bright red ; 

 fine-grained and sweet ; one of the best quick-growing 

 early Beets. Egyptian Ttirnip. Tops quite small ; 

 roots fair size, rich, deep red ; a standard early variety. 



For field culture of culinary Beets, the long-rooted 

 varieties are chiefly used. These are sown in the field 

 as soon as the weather is settled, in rows far enough 

 apart to allow of tillage by horse. Most of them require 

 the entire season in w r hich to mature. They are grown 

 mostly for storing for winter use. They were once 

 grown for stock, but the Mangel-wurzels give much 

 greater yields. The various types of Long Blood Beet 

 (Fig. 202) are chiefly used for field culture. 



Favorite varieties of Mangel-wurzels are Golden 

 Tankard, Golden Yellow Mammoth, Mammoth Long Red. 

 Several sorts of Sugar Beets, mostly imported from Ger- 

 many, are being grown in divers places in America. Of 

 Chard, there are no selected varieties offered in America. 



The varieties of Beta vulgaris may be conveniently 

 divided into five sections, though the distinctions are 

 somewhat arbitrary and of no fundamental importance. 

 These sections are as follows : 



1. GARDEN BEETS. Varieties with comparatively small 

 tops : roots of medium size, smooth, regular and fine- 

 grained : mostly red, but sometimes whitish or yel- 

 lowish. 



2. MANGEL-WURZELS, or MANGELS. Large, coarse- 

 growing varieties, with large tops and often very large 



