BEETS 1 5 1 



most careful quarantine methods, or a seed-bean industry based 

 on disease-free seed must be developed in the few regions known 

 to be exempt from the disease. This latter plan is not necessary, 

 since by the careful selection of seed from disease-free plants and 

 by the use of the spray it is possible to produce seed of high 

 quality, free from disease, even in badly infested territory. 



BEETS 



Distribution. The beet is a hardy vegetable of wide distribution 

 and almost universal use. It is grown as an early crop for sale as 

 greens, or as bunch beets, in nearly every locality where garden 

 vegetables are cultivated. It is also commonly grown for use during 

 the winter months ; for this purpose the roots are allowed to come to 

 full development, and at the approach of cold weather are lifted and 

 stored. Because of its hardiness and the variety of uses to which 

 it is suited, the beet is an important product with a wjde distribution. 



Types of beets. The beet is an exceedingly interesting plant from 

 the standpoint of the horticulturist and the botanist, because of the 

 fact that under cultivation the wild plant, which is known to botan- 

 ists as Beta vulgaris, has given rise to three or four distinct and 

 important types. For the convenience of discussion, they will 

 be considered in the following order: (i) the garden beet, repre- 

 sented by the turnip-shaped and long-rooted beet ; (2) Swiss chard, 

 the so-called leaf beet ; (3) the sugar beet ; and (4) the mangel, or 

 mangel-wurzel, as it is known in Germany. These different types 

 are not distinct species but are simply so-called varieties or sorts 

 which come practically true to type from seed. Their evolution 

 is the result of careful selection through a long series of years and 

 it is possible that, with care, any gardener could in a few years trans- 

 form a beet of any one of these types into one of the others. The 

 general treatment for all of these forms is practically the same, 

 with the exception that the garden beet is grown as a forced crop, 

 and for commercial purposes is handled as a short-season crop. 



Soil for garden beets. The soil which is most congenial to the 

 beet is a sandy or gravelly loam, well enriched, and one which 

 warms up quickly in the spring. Cold, retentive soils do not give 

 as good results. For this reason, those who contemplate growing 



