Radishes for the Connoisseur— By Adolph Kruhm, 



CRISP FRESH ROOTS ALL THE YEAR — A SELECTED LOT OF A DOZEN KINDS 

 THAT WILL GIVE A SUCCESSION — TYPES THAT FIT THE DIFFERENT SEASONS 



Ohio. 



THE one fact about radishes that 

 has always most impressed me 

 is the utter absence of quality 

 in radishes bought on market. 



Grow them yourself! It is easily said, 

 but only an experienced seedsman realizes 

 what difficulties confront the home gar- 

 dener who gets ready to do so and begins 

 with the ordering of seeds. Ten years 

 ago, Prof. W. W. Tracy, of the U. S. Dept. 

 of Agriculture, in his very interesting work 

 on "American Varieties of Vegetables," 

 reported that the seedsmen throughout 

 the country catalogued about 600 different 

 names of radishes. Since then, the maze 

 has become more complicated than ever; 

 seedsmen are just as far from agreeing on a 

 uniform name for a standard variety as they 

 ever were. Moreover, every new arrival 

 in the seed business considers it his per- 

 sonal right to take any standard sort and 

 give it a new pet name of , his own. The 

 result is, that some distinct types of radish 

 — as, for instance, Scarlet Turnip White 

 Tip — masquerade under fifty or more 

 different names with fifty different seeds- 

 men. 



In order to grow radishes that are 

 "right," you need know only the differen- 

 ces in radishes that are adapted to different 

 seasons. In each season's class we find 

 different shapes; and among the different 

 shapes in all these classes, we again find 

 different colors. While shapes and colors 

 are, of course, only of minor importance, 

 the classification of all the radishes accord- 

 ing to seasons holds the key to the solution 

 of the radish problem. 



Radishes may be analyzed in the same 

 fashion as lettuce, fully treated in the 

 February, 1913, Garden Magazine. Cer- 

 tain sorts do well only in the spring, while 

 others positively will not do well except 

 during the summer. Still others do well 

 only during late summer and fall. It is 

 contrary to nature's laws to attempt to 

 grow winter radishes during the summer 

 months, or summer radishes during the 

 spring months. A disregard of these facts 

 is, in most cases, responsible for indifferent 

 success with radishes. 



Radishes of quality should have crisp 

 flesh of mild flavor. They should have a 

 smooth, thin skin, and be of reasonably 

 uniform shape. They should "stand" 

 in prime condition for some time. One 

 of the chief reasons why radishes bought in 

 the market hardly ever possess the two most 

 desirable qualities — crisp flesh and mild 

 flavor — is that, as in the case of all root 

 crops, the market grower puts appearance 

 before quality. 



How utterly misleading the appearance 

 of a radish often proves is demonstrated 

 through the variety called Long Brightest 

 Scarlet, or Cardinal. This is a long sort 



Eat radishes while they are still young and crisp. 

 Don't let them get pithy. Spring varieties; from 

 top to bottom. Rapid Red, Rosy Gem. Snowball. 

 French Breakfast.Hailstone, Scarlet Olive Shaped 



of early radish, with brilliant carmine skin 

 and exceedingly handsome white tip. Car 

 dinal almost "jumps" at you from the 

 market stand ! But its quality will deterior- 

 ate almost over night. To-day it is solid, 

 crisp and mild; to-morrow it is hollow, 

 pithy and tough. But most seed catalogues 

 will not say so, and the market grower 



302 



cannot say so, since his work's reward 

 depends upon the sale of those radishes. 



CLASSES ACCORDING TO SEASON 



There are distinct spring varieties, sum- 

 mer varieties and winter varieties of radish. 

 Fortunately, some spring sorts "stand" 

 long enough in good condition to fill the 

 gap between spring and summer sorts. 

 A few summer sorts almost rival in solidity 

 and texture the very late winter ones, so 

 that no shortage need occur in the supply 

 of palatable radishes. 



As to shape: there are the little round 

 or "cherry stone" radishes, the olive 

 shaped sorts, the half long sorts and the 

 long sorts. Nearly all these differently 

 shaped radishes come in both red and white. 

 No hard and fast rules can be laid down as 

 to which of the score of distinct small, 

 round, spring radishes are the best three or 

 four. However, it is wise not to sacrifice a 

 good old dependable stand-by for the 

 sake of many new comers. 



Three weeks of good growing weather is 

 usually the earliest time in which you can 

 hope to grow radishes to a size large enough 

 to enjoy. After that, your problem will be 

 a proper succession of sorts that will keep 

 the table supplied with crisp radishes up to 

 the time that it becomes too warm for the 

 extra early spring kinds 



The long varieties of the spring radishes 

 are the happy medium that will fill the gap 

 between the extremely early turnip radishes 

 and the midseason or summer radishes. 



SOWING EOR SUCCESSION 



Up to May 15th, sowings may be made 

 of the extra early spring varieties. During 

 the balance of May plant the long spring 

 sorts. Beginning June 1st, sow summer 

 radishes; and winter radishes should be 

 planted about the same time as you sow 

 turnips. In giving my favorite dozen in 

 the following paragraphs, I have been 

 careful to put each kind in its proper class 

 and to state in each description just what it 

 will do under normal conditions. 



POINTS TO WATCH IN GROWING RADISHES 



To have radishes that are always "just 

 right" sow short rows often. The best 

 quality is found in a radish at that critical 

 moment when it first reaches a certain size. 

 It must be grown quickly, for which reason 

 the ground should be very loose, friable and 

 contain an abundance of humus. Radishes , 

 to be at their best, need a good deal of 

 moisture. In dry seasons, do not be sur- 

 prised when all globe-shaped sorts become 

 more elongated, and show more fibrous 

 rootlets than usual. 



While French seed yields by far the best 

 lot of uniformly shaped and highly colored 

 roots, American seed will undoubtedly 



