FIELD AND GARDEN VEGETABLES. 



CHAPTER I. 



ESCULENT ROOTS. 



The Beet. Carrot. Parsnip. Potato. Radish. Swede or Ruta-baga 

 Turnip. Salsify, or Oyster-plant. Sweet Potato. Turnip. 



THE BEET. 



Beta vulgaris. 



E Common Beet, sometimes termed the Red Beet, is 

 JL a half-hardy biennial plant ; and is cultivated for its 

 large, succulent, sweet, and tender roots. These attain 

 their full size during the first year, but will not survive the 

 winter in the open ground. The seed is produced the sec- 

 ond year ; after the ripening of which, the plant perishes. 



When fully developed, the beet-plant rises about four feet 

 in height, with an angular, channelled stem ; long, slender 

 branches ; and large, oblong, smooth, thick, and fleshy 

 leaves. The flowers are small, green, and are either sessile, 

 or produced on very short peduncles. The calyxes, before 

 maturity, are soft and fleshy ; when ripe, hard and wood- 

 like in texture. These calyxes, which are formed in small, 

 united, rounded groups, or clusters, are of a brownish color, 

 and about one-fourth of an inch in diameter ; the size, how- 

 ever, as well as depth of color, varying, to some extent, in 

 the different varieties. Each of these clusters of dried 

 i i 



