288 THE SCHOOL GARDEN BOOK 



Record of Growth. 



1. Seed : size, shape, and color. Cut one of the " seeds " in 



two, and you will find that this is really a fruit with 

 two or three tiny seeds inside of it. Date of plant- 

 ing. 



2. Date of coming up of seedlings. Size and shape of seed- 



leaves. 



3. Date of thinning. Number of true leaves then present. 



4. Date of first harvest. Number of beets gathered. 



5. Date of last harvest. 



6. Comparison of varieties: conclusions. 



Drawings. 



1. Seeds: cross-section of "seeds." 



2. Seedling with seed-leaves well developed. 



3. Seedling at time of thinning. 



4. Fully developed beet with or without the leaves. 



5. Plan of vegetable garden. Plan of plot of beets. 



The Story. 



Tell the story of your beets and how they grew. 'WTiat is 

 the difference between the beet seed that you plant 

 and the radish seed that you plant? When does 

 the beet blossom? Is it an annual or a biennial? 

 Make the story more interesting by telling your 

 schoolmates that the beet originally was a wild plant 

 related to our common pigweed, and that it has 

 been in process of improvement for more than two 

 thousand years. Learn more about this in the encv- 

 clopedias or books on horticulture at the library. 



