Root Crops and How to Grow Them 217 
RUTABAGAS 
” 
Rutabagas or “ Swedes ”’ are grown much the same as 
fall crops of turnips, but as they require about go days 
to reach maturity, the seed should be planted three or 
four weeks earlier in summer. The best crops are pro- 
duced in the northern states in sections having cool 
summers. The roots are larger than turnips, and they 
keep somewhat longer in storage than do most other 
root crops. Rutabagas are much used for feeding stock 
and poultry, and they are excellent food for human beings. 
They are especially pleasing in a “‘ boiled dinner.”” The 
Improved Purple Top and the Golden Heart are excellent 
varieties for the family garden. 
GARDEN BEETS 
Seed catalogues list about 12 varieties of table beets, 
differing to some extent in shape, color, size, and flavor, 
as well as in the time required for proper growth. Al- 
though these beets are to be classed as essentially cool- 
season crops, they thrive during summer, especially in 
the more northern planting zones. 
For the first planting, sow seeds of an early variety 
like Crosby’s Egyptian about the time of the latest frost. 
This will furnish tender, partly grown roots for use during 
summer. Successive plantings of this variety may be 
made for later use, but the latest date of planting should 
be about 60 days before the first killing frost of autumn. 
In the lower altitudes of the southern parts of Arizona 
and California and in the Gulf States, seeds sown in 
September will yield roots that may be left in the ground 
