COLLECTING, STORING, AND PACKING VEGETABLES. 
Main and late crop Potatoes travel at a cheaper 
rate if packed in bags. Hundredweight bags 
are principally employed by market- growers, 
and they are conveyed at ton rates. 
Radishes.—Quickly-grown and pulled when 
quite young, Radishes are crisp, tender, and 
sweet, whereas, if grown slowly or left till they 
are old before drawing, they are tough, stringy, 
hot, and indigestible. Naturally they are best 
when first pulled, but if not unduly exposed 
they will keep good for several days. They 
should be bunched, have their tops, if somewhat 
bulky, trimmed, and the roots rinsed in clean 
water. They may be packed with other salad- 
ing, or, if for the market, in flats surrounded 
with grass. 
Rhubarb.—The most pleasing in point of 
colour and the most delicately flavoured Rhubarb 
is that developed in heat in the dark. Thus 
produced it is brittle, and should be caretully 
handled. The leaves, if short, need not be in- 
terfered with, otherwise they may be reduced 
in size, but the blanched tops improve the ap- 
pearance of Rhubarb. Tie up in bundles for 
the more convenient handling and_ packing. 
That raised in the open is harder and stands 
rougher handling. Market growers tie forced 
Rhubarb in small bundles of two to four sticks, 
not removing the leaves. Later rather larger 
bundles are made. It is packed closely in 
hampers or crates. 
Salsify. — Roots of this vegetable do not 
keep well out of the ground, and the usual 
practice is to leave them where grown till they 
are wanted for use. In the spring, the ground 
being wanted for other vegetables, what is left 
of the crop may be lifted and laid in closely on 
a north border. When forked up the roots 
should be washed clean, and if to be packed, 
tied in small bundles to be placed in the hamper 
among other coarse vegetables. 
savoy Cabbages.—Too often these are 
grown to a great size and quite spoilt through 
having become coarse. Small hearts are the 
best. They are prepared and packed for private 
use or for sale much in the same way as ordinary 
Cabbages. 
Scorzonera.—Treat precisely as directed 
for Salsify. 
Sea Kale.—Sea Kale ought to be well 
567 
grown, in order to have strong crowns, as fine 
succulent growths cannot be forced out of 
weakly plants. To have it mild in flavour it 
must be forced in the dark. Too often Sea 
Kale is allowed to become long and compara- 
tively old before it is cut. Left till the flower- 
stem develops, it becomes hard, and is prac- 
tically spoilt. The shoots ought to be graded, 
if not by the grower certainly by the cook, 
and neatly tied into bundles. If not wanted 
for immediate use, stand the short length of 
stem connected with the growths in a pan of 
water in a cool dark shed. This is better than 
leaving the produce uncut. When packing, 
wrap each bundle in clean packing-paper and 
place in a box with other choice vegetables. 
Sea Kale for market ought always to be cut 
with an inch or more of stem attached, as 
this serves to keep the growth together and 
further tends to preserve its freshness. They 
should be tied up in compact bundles of a 
dozen growths or more. Not infrequently the 
lower half of the bundle is enclosed in blue 
paper, and packed tightly in deep punnets, 
which in their turn are packed in hampers or 
light boxes. 
Spinach.-—Large succulent leaves of Spinach 
are most desired, and failing these quite young 
plants or thinnings are sometimes substituted. 
If exposed after gathering Spinach quickly 
becomes flabby, but retains its freshness fairly 
well in a hamper, drawer, or box, in a cool 
place. New Zealand Spinach (Tetragonia ex- 
pansa) is very different in its habit of growth, 
the young tops of much-spreading plants being 
boiled. The leaves of Perpetual or Spinach 
Beet more nearly resemble true Spinach in 
appearance, but they are not so good in quality. 
Strong roots continue to produce leaves in suc- 
cession to those gathered, and Spinach Beet 
may be said to be a hardy and reliable, if not 
particularly good vegetable. When packing 
Spinach it may be mixed with other vegetables 
that require to be kept fresh, or it may be dis- 
posed in bulk near the top of the hamper. 
Spinach is marketed in hampers, crates, and 
bags. 
Tomatoes. — Tomatoes are at their best 
when fully ripe. They may be well-coloured 
before this, but the flesh is comparatively hard 
and the pulp wanting in flavour; on the other 
hand, if kept till soft and flabby, all the bright- 
ness and much of the pleasing acidity is gone 
out of them. It is a mistake to imagine that 
