62 BEET. 



duce in the open air, plants can be raised from beans sown 

 one each in a half pint pot in April and kept in a cold 

 frame ; these will be ready for transplanting by the end of 

 May, and will come in ten days or two weeks sooner than 

 those sown in the open air. 



Of those used as string beans the London Horticultural 

 is the best, as it can also be used as a shelled bean, and is 

 excellent when dried or ripe. 



Of the shelled class none equals the Lima and its variety, 

 the Sieva. The latter is somewhat hardier and is several 

 days earlier than the first, but is not so large. 



BEET. 



Beets require a rich, deep, well-pulverized soil; but it is 

 not necessary to manure the soil for the present crop if it 

 has been well manured for previous crops of other vege- 

 tables. Coarse manure produces misshapen, ill-flavored 

 roots. A top dressing of salt or guano, bone dust, super- 

 phosphate or wood ashes, is beneficial, even if the soil is 

 rich. 



For an early crop the turnip-rooted varieties are the most 

 suitable. They can be sown as early as the first week of 

 April in a sheltered border. The drills should be a foot 

 apart and one to two inches in depth; the seeds being 

 dropped along the row about two inches apart, then 

 covered in with a rake, and rolled or else pressed down by 

 laying a board over the drill and walking on it, to set the 

 earth firmly about the seeds. For succession crops, sow 

 every two weeks, from the first of April until the first of 

 June. The crop will be more tender and delicate when 

 thus sown in succession, as those first sown become harder 

 and not so well flavored as the hot weather approaches. 



