2130LE RUTA-BAGA. 119 



Tiic outer skin of both these varieties is so thin and deli- 

 cate, that it ia not necessary to remove it in preparing it 

 for cooking. 



ROCAMBOLE, 



This is a vegetable of the onion family, resembling garlic, 

 but having smaller bulbs; it is milder and sweeter fla- 

 vored than garlic. 



It is very hardy, and is increased either by seeds, by sep- 

 aration of the bulbs, or by the rocamboles, or small bulbs 

 produced upon the flower stem of the plant. The seeds 

 may be sown and treated the same as onions. The sets or 

 cloves of the bulb are cultivated in the same way as shal- 

 lots, described in another place. 



RUTA-BAGA, 



The ruta-baga, or Swedish turnip, is not really a turnip, 

 but belongs to a different species of the Brassica family. 

 It is analogous to the kohl-rabi, only that the root, and 

 not the stem, is developed into a large fleshy bulb. 



It requires a deep, rich, mellow soil, which should be 

 well pulverized before sowing the seed. It delights in a 

 fresh soil, but when manured should have well-rotted 

 manure or fine ground bone. When grown for farming pur- 

 poses it is sown about the middle of May, but when grown 

 for table use, it may be sown any time during the month 

 of July, as it is not necessary to have as large roots for the 

 kitchen as for stock-feeding, and, besides, the later sown 

 and smaller roots are more succulent and tender. 



The drills should bo fifteen or sixteen inches apart and 

 half an inch deep. When the plants arc in their second or 

 third leaf, they should be thinned out by the hoe to ten or 



