THE MANSE GARDEN. 141 



tops of the stalks should be shorn, in order to admit 

 more air and encourage the filling of the pods. 



Beet. Red beet (the white is not worthy of culti- 

 vation) is a very saccharine and wholesome vegetable, 

 and makes an excellent pickle. Sow the seed about 

 the middle of April, and on deep ground, manured 

 for the preceding crop. Recent manuring causes 

 the roots to grow fibrous and distorted, and too 

 early sowing disposes the plants to run to seed. 

 The drills should be eighteen inches apart, and the 

 plants thinned to six or eight inches from each other. 

 In lifting this crop, care must be taken not to break 

 the taproot. The beet may be stored in sand or 

 pitted in the garden before any severe frosts have 

 came on. In making the pit, the chief thing is to 

 provide for getting up the roots safely as they are 

 wanted. If any cut or fracture ensue, the juice 

 drains off in the boiling, and the pulp is rendered 

 useless. Let the pit be made in dry ground, six 

 inches deep, two feet wide, and of such length as 

 the bulk of the crop may require. Lay the roots 

 across the trench, in layers, with earth between ; and 

 thus, as their position is known, they are easily ex- 

 humated without inflicting any wound. The pit 

 should be ridged up and beaten smooth, to turn off 

 the rain. 



Brocoli. This is one of the best of vegetables, 

 and comes in a season of no great plenty. It is 

 now unfailing in many gardens where, half a century 

 ago, it was as little to be seen as a pine-apple. It 

 may be tried in any climate, even though it should 

 often fail, as no loss of ground is sustained by the 

 trial. The plants are set in good time after a crop 



