14 ESCULENT ROOTS. 



roots are sweet, tender, and well-flavored, and in all re- 

 spects superior for the table to many garden varieties. In 

 France, it is largely cultivated for the manufacture of 

 sugar, and for distillation. 



Of the two sub -varieties, some cultivators prefer the 

 Green-top ; others the Rose-colored, or Red-top. The lat- 

 ter is the larger, more productive, and the better keeper ; 

 but the former is the more sugary. It is, however, very 

 difficult to preserve the varieties in a pure state ; much of 

 the seed usually sown containing, in some degree, a mixture 

 of both. 



It is cultivated in all respects as the Long Red Mangel- 

 wurzel, and the yield per acre varies from twenty to thirty 

 tons. 



White Tur- A variety of the Early Blood Turnip-rooted, 

 e ' with green leaves and white flesh. It is sweet 

 and tender, but, on account of its color, not so marketable 

 as the last named. 



Wyatt's Root sixteen inches long, and five inches in 



son. diameter. Crown conical, brownish. Skin 



smooth, slate-black. Flesh deep purplish-red, circled and 

 rayed with yet deeper shades of red ; fine-grained, and re- 

 markably sugary. 



The variety is not early, but of fine quality ; keeps well, 

 and is recommended for cultivation for winter and spring 

 use. Much esteemed in England. 



Yellow This is a globular-formed beet, measuring 



gel-wurzUr eight or ten inches in diameter, and weighing 



Orange ^ ten or twelve pounds ; nearly one-half of the 

 gel-wurzel. roo t growing above ground. Skin yellow, 

 where it is covered by the soil, and yellowish-brown 

 above the surface where exposed to light and air. Flesh 

 white, zoned or marked with yellow; close-grained, and 



