COMMON GARDEN PLANTS 121 



My work with the turnip has not extended 

 beyond the stage of experimental crossing as 

 with the cabbages, which led to no prospect of 

 useful results. With the radish, which might be 

 described as a dwarf turnip, much work has been 

 carried along the line of selection, without 

 hybridizing. 



There are enough variations among the seed- 

 lings of any given variety of radish to afford 

 ample opportunity for selection as to form, color, 

 and qualities in general. 



In the course of the experiments a dozen or 

 more of the most popular kinds of radish were 

 used, the principal aim being to get the roots very 

 uniform and smooth, all developing at the same 

 time, instead of at different times as most rad- 

 ishes now do; and all of uniform color. 



Another object was to develop varieties with 

 the smallest amount of foliage that would be 

 adequate to build up the roots quickly under good 

 conditions. 



Also attention was given at one time to the 

 flavor of the radish, in developing a sweeter pun- 

 gency for which the vegetable is relished. 



As just noted, all the radish seed used in these 

 experiments proved exceedingly variable; and 

 even those that were selected and reselected per- 

 sistently for several years showed a tendency to 



