NoveMBER, 1906 
An old one is soft 
and spongy, a fresh one firm and solid 
Pinch a radish to see if it is young. 
Carrots.—Bellot’s Early. A _ desirable 
shape, being uniform all the way down, 
almost like a frankfurter. It is a deep 
orange color, not red, and I think that 
this colored carrot has a better and more 
pronounced flavor than a pale yellow 
one. It will please the eye of the cook 
and is the best kind for serving whole on 
the table. 
Early Scarlet Horn. Is of a strong flavor; 
good for soups and flavoring purposes. 
Oxheart. Is a delicate flavored, round 
carrot suitable for growing in shallow soil. 
Golden Ball. Is the smallest and earliest 
of all. 
Parsnips.—Abbot’s Improved. A _ fine 
white variety, the flesh being so fine and 
soft, it has been described as ‘“‘porky” or 
“buttery”; without fibers or strings. The 
roots are smooth and well shaped. 
Hollow Crown. Has a flat top, which gives 
no waste in preparation. It is a stronger 
grower than Abbot’s Improved, which is 
inclined to rot in a wet spring, but not 
quite so fine in texture or rich in flavor. 
White turnips.—Milk Globe, Purple Top, 
White Globe, and Snowball. All these 
are well shaped round turnips with fine 
white flesh. 
Rutabaga.—Allen’s Long Island Improved. 
Has yellow flesh, richer than the white 
turnip, low crown, very little neck, and is 
covered on the top with purple bloom. 
Fine grain and delicate quality. A good 
keeper. 
Potatoes—The best for growing and 
storing are Gold Coin, Potentate, Carmen 
No. 1, Crown Jewel, and Green Mountain. 
These are all white skinned varieties and 
good keepers. The best all round varieties 
are Potentate and Gold Coin. Green 
Mountain is most liable to rot in storage. 
Salsify or Vegetable Oyster —Sandwich 
Island. A good grower and fine texture. 
Large White French. Not so_ strong. 
Won’t stand winter. 
Kohlrabi.—Early White Vienna and Early 
Purple Vienna are good. White Vienna 
differs from the general varieties of white 
ones, being really white fleshed and not 
green. The great secret of obtaining good 
kohlrabi is to pick young, crisp, and tender. 
Large ones are coarse, woody, and take an 
unconscionable time to cook. 
HOW TO KEEP ROOTS 
All roots should be as fresh and juicy 
after being stored for the winter as when 
they were taken from the ground. ‘There 
are three practical methods of storage. 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
earthy 172: 
Boxing them in sand. 
1. Burying in the 
on the cellar floor. 3. 
METHODS OF STORING AND KEEPING 
Earth burial Cellar floor Sand Left in ground 
Beets Rutabagas Carrots Celeriac 
Carrots White turnips | Celeriac Horse radish 
Jerusalem 
Potatoes Winter radishes} Horse radish artichokes 
Jerusalem 
artichokes 
Kohlrabi Kohlrabi 
Parsnips Parsnips 
Salsify Scolymus 
Winter radish] Scorzonera 
The best method of storage is that which 
most nearly approaches nature’s own,— 
earth burial. Some vegetables cannot be 
kept in any other way. In practice these 
conditions are met by providing a cool, 
dark place, good drainage, and air dry enough 
to prevent rotting, but not so dry as to cause 
shrivelling. A very good contrivance is 
a barrel either bottomless or with holes 
bored in the bottom to allow for drainage. 
Sink this in the earth and cover the top with 
straw. Don’t bury roots or fruits in heaps 
or they will taste earthy. The pictures 
at the top of page 184 show how to avoid 
the earthy taste, by ventilating the barrels. 
A section of old tin rain water pipe extends 
from the bottom of the barrel up through 
the barrel and three feet in the air. The 
companion picture shows an ideal location 
for storing vegetables—high ground, good 
drainage, and shelter from the winter sun. 
Behind a windbreak the soil will freeze 
slowly and thaw out even more slowly. 
This windbreak is so placed that the sun hardly 
reaches this spot at all in the winter. The 
pictures were taken at 3 P. M. and show 
how little light can get through the trees, 
Whichever way you store you must see 
that light is excluded or the vegetables 
will grow, and that the roots are protected 
from intense cold. 
For storing on the cellar floor, first put 
salt hay on the floor. Heap the roots in a 
Heaping 
185 
The yellow-fleshed rutabagas are more richly flavored 
than the white sorts 
pyramid-shaped pile of convenient size 
for getting at on the hay. Cover the pile 
with earth, which will also fill in the spaces 
between the roots. A final covering of hay 
over the earth to the depth of two or three 
inches makes all snug for the approach of 
early winter’s cold. As the weather gets 
more severe, add more and more hay to 
prevent freezing. 
Beets will keep only if buried in the earth. 
They rot very quickly. Beets planted the 
end of July, allowed to grow to about the 
size of a hen’s egg, then lifted and buried 
in the ground will keep fairly well, but 
even then the chances are that they will 
lose much of their sweetness and become 
woody. Beets must be handled very care- 
fully to prevent them from bleeding. Cut 
the top leaves off but not too close, about 
two inches from the root. The rootlets 
must only be shortened not cut off. Rough 
handling will break the skin and cause bleed- 
ing. If the beets lose their color they are not 
nearly so attractive. 
Carrots will not stand early frost so they 
must be lifted and the leaves cut off. Do 
not shake the earth off as they are delicate 
and must be protected as much as possible. 
It is safer to store them in earth. 
Celeriac must have all the leaves but the 
top ones taken off. If the top ones are 
removed the plant will devote its energies 
to making more and so the quality will 
deteriorate. 
Parsnips are actually improved by a touch 
White and black winter radishes. 
(Summer radishes in centre.) Sow in July; store in November 
