392 GARDEN FARMING 



RADISHES 



The spring radish is a universal favorite. When it is well grown 

 it possesses a crispness of flesh and a sprightliness of flavor which 

 are most acceptable after a protracted diet of more concentrated, 

 carbonaceous foods. Its crisp, acrid flavor makes it a decided 

 appetizer, and for this reason it is very generally used upon the 

 tables of all classes. As a market-garden crop the radish holds 

 a subordinate position, but in the home garden it is one of 

 the first crops to receive attention, because of its hardiness and 

 quick return-. 



Botany. The radish, Raphanus sativus, belongs to the same 

 family as mustard and cabbage, although it does not belong to the 

 same genus. Two classes or types of radish are recognized, each 

 having a wide diversity of forms with a varietal name. The early 

 or spring sorts are all annual plants, but the later sorts the so- 

 called winter radishes are usually treated as biennials, the roots 

 being produced one season and the seeds the next. Some inter- 

 esting investigations have been carried on to determine the origin 

 of this much-prized vegetable. Notwithstanding the work of Car- 

 riere, who was able to take a wild form of an allied plant known 

 as charlock, and from this in the course of five years develop a 

 type of root corresponding in every respect to our highly improved 

 garden sorts, some of our foremost horticultural botanists do not 

 consider this as conclusive proof that the cultivated radish is a 

 direct offshoot of the wild charlock. In fact, the origin of the 

 radish is generally accredited to tropical India, where there are 

 many forms of this plant in cultivation, and where the wild char- 

 lock is not known. Since the normal movement of plants has been 

 from the orient toward the Occident, it is not believed that the wild 

 charlock made its way eastward in early times and became the parent 

 of the present forms of radishes found in India. The true history 

 of the plant will probably remain unknown, but for our purpose it 

 is sufficient that the cultivated radish is now found in a great variety 

 of forms adapted to a wide diversity of climates and seasons. 



The discussion of the radish naturally falls under two heads : 

 (i) The Radish as a Field Crop; and (2) The Radish as a 

 Forcing Crop. 



