400 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



in the summer and autumn before the long or tapering-rooted varieties are ready for pull- 

 ing. Beets like a deep holding soil of good quality that has been rendered fine and loose 

 by well turning it up with a fork in the spring. If a previous crop has been well manured, 

 and the ground before the winter thrown up roughly, and later forked down level for 

 sowing, it is better so to leave it than to add fresh manure, as such application in a fresh 

 state tends to the production of side roots, which are, on all these products ,| very objection- 

 able. But when it is essential to add manure to the ground it should be dug in, or better 

 still, trenched in early in the preceding winter, burying it well down. All these tapering 

 roots obtain their sap food chiefly through the aid of the fine point root which strikes 

 vertically into the soil ; hence where manure is low down it is more readily utilised. 



Sowing the earliest crop may take place in the south quite early in April and in the 

 north at the end of the month. A fairly sheltered position is best. The drills, which may 

 be an inch in depth, should be 12 inches apart, the seed being sown thinly in them, 

 then covered with fine soil, roughly raked over, and left neat on the surface. As the plants 

 give somewhat sweet leafage birds are apt to prey upon it, hence some protection, either 

 in the form of nets or dusting with lime or soot, may be needful for a few weeks after growth 

 begins, to protect the plants from harm. To have these round-rooted early Beets in good 

 condition the plants in the rows should be thinned to 6 inches apart, and throughout the 

 summer the surface soil be freely stirred with a hoe both to kill weeds and to retain 

 moisture. When the roots are but half grown they may be pulled for use ; and when 

 fully grown, which they will be by the beginning of August, they are of a dark crimson 

 colour, flesh fine and firm, of good flavour, and delicious when cooked and eaten while 

 cold, or sliced and eaten as salading. The blood-red, globe-shaped variety, with its tops 

 of dark hue and moderate growth, should be asked for. 



Beets, Tapering 1 . As these forms make good growth well into the autumn, early 

 sowing is undesirable. It is therefore soon enough to make sowings during the month 

 of May. The ground should be prepared as before mentioned, the drills being drawn 14 

 inches apart, and grow them as advised for the round-rooted forms. In using a hoe 

 between the rows great care should be taken not to injure the roots. Large roots are 

 undesirable, for these invariably have inferior and less well-coloured flesh than those of 

 medium size. 



Varieties, Some that show handsome dark-hued leafage and also have roots of rich 

 deep colour and good refined flesh are Dell's Crimson, Pragnell's Exhibition, Nutting's 

 Red, and Blood-Red ; Cheltenham Greentpp is also a good variety. These, when 

 moderately well grown, give roots of the highest excellence in flavouring and deep- 

 coloured flesh. 



Wintering. Being somewhat tender, it is needful to lift Beets from the ground and 

 store them in dry sand or ashes in any cool shed or outhouse from which frosts are 

 excluded. The cooler the roots can be kept the better. The lifting should be done 

 not later than the middle of November, the soil being carefully rubbed from each root, 

 and the leaves not cut but twisted off, before placing the roots in the sand. Store them 

 so that the crowns project. An occasional looking over them is needful during the winter. 

 Carefully preserved roots should be good till the end of May at least, but much depends 

 on place of storage and attention given during the winter. When properly cooked and 

 served to table, a really good, rich-coloured Beet is delicious. It would be well were 

 Beets far more largely consumed. 



Broccoli. These are fairly hardy, and biennial, that is to say, they are raised from 

 seed one year and produce their frothy heads for eating, and later their flowers proper 

 in the following year. Their time of heading-in ranges from January to June. Seed 

 of the earliest varieties, those to head in early in the year, should be sown in March 

 or April, to enable strong plants to be dibbled out into rows, 2 feet apart, in June, 

 or early in July. Later varieties may be sown in May, and be planted out in August and 

 early in September. It is undesirable to have the plants too gross or leafy, as these 

 are more liable to injury by frost ; again, large heads are undesirable, as those that are 

 from 6 to 8 inches across, when cut, are quite large enough for cooking. When the 

 ground is rich enough with manure dressings, it is well to tread it quite hard about the 

 plants, as that induces them to become less leafy and much harder in the stems. It is a 

 good plan to put out Broccoli plants on to ground that has just been cleared of Peas or 

 other crops, and has not been dug again. The purple-sprouting Broccoli is a most useful 

 as well as a hardy variety, the sprouts being gathered as needed, and thus the plants 

 continue to produce them for several weeks. Seeds of that variety should be sown in 

 April or May, the sprouts being ready for use in the following February and March. 

 Seed in all cases should be sown thinly, in drills, 12 inches apart. The best white Broccoli 

 are Early : Christmas White, Winter White, and Early White ; and for later cutting : 

 Self-protecting, Late Queen, and Model. 



Brussels Sprouts. These distinct forms of Cabbage do not produce hearts, but each 



