VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 345 



five to seventy or eighty bushels per acre, according to 

 soil and culture, and are as easily cultivated as corn. 



Marketing. — The harvesting is done by means of a 

 plow, and as fast as the plants are turned over they are 

 shaken by means of a pitchfork to free them from dirt 

 and then the}' are piled in rows for a few hours until 

 partially dry. Stacks are made in the field by placing 

 the plants on boards (to raise them from the ground so 

 that they will not decay,) around an upright pole, where 

 they remain for several days until entirely dried out, 

 when the nuts are picked from the vines by women and 

 children. This method of harvesting makes the nuts cost 

 more than when gathered by machinery, but it is claimed 

 that the condition of the nuts is better when gathered by 

 hand. The crop is placed in sacks and shipped to the 

 cleaning and sorting factory, whore they arc cleaned of 

 all grit and imperfect nuts by machinery, and they are 

 then ready for the market. They are sacked and sold by 

 measure. 



HORSE-RADISH.— ( Nasturtium Armoracia.) 



Horse-radish is a Cruciferous perennial plant, grow- 

 ing naturally in moist places in England, and various 

 other parts of Europe. Its flowers are white, and appear 

 in panicles in May. It has long been an inhabitant of the 

 garden. 



Culture. — Horse-radish delights in a deep, rich mould, 

 moderately and regularly moist; the roots are never of 

 good size if grown in poor soil, or under the shade of trees. 

 It seldom produces seed, and hence is propagated by sets 

 provided by cutting the roots and offsets into lengths of 

 two inches. The tops and crowns of the roots make the 

 best sets, as they are earlier and make a finer growth 

 than those from the centre of the root. Each set should 

 have two eyes. The finest crops are made by trenching 



