212 Gardening 
tables to the table in winter when other fresh foods 
are scarce. 
A good soil needed for root crops. As a rule, the 
root crops are “ light feeders.” This is because the root 
system is not extensive. The main root grows down 
rather deeply but becomes thick and fleshy, while the 
smaller, fibrous, feeding rootlets are not so numerous 
and so widely spreading as in many other crops. 
Root crops, therefore, thrive best in a mellow soil in 
which the roots can go deep. A rich and well-watered 
loam or a sandy soil that contains considerable humus 
and well-rotted manure is best for them. On heavy and 
compact soils the roots of these crops are often small, 
ill-shaped, knotty, and more or less branched. They 
often fail on “raw” or previously uncultivated soils, 
but with good tillage and the addition of humus and 
manure such soils become suited to all the root crops. 
Root crops maturing during periods of hot, dry weather 
are likely to be woody and of poor flavor. This can be 
prevented in large degree by supplying an abundance of 
water. 
Thinning root crops. The beginner often fails to thin 
root crops sufficiently. The tops of these plants as a rule 
are small compared to the underground parts, and they 
are likely to be left so thick that the plants do not have 
room to mature properly. 
In thinning these crops it is best to allow a distance 
between plants twice the diameter of a mature root. 
Thus radishes, which are 1 inch in diameter when mature, 
should stand 2 inches apart, and turnips, which are 3 
inches in diameter, should stand 6 inches apart. If there 
