HORSERADISH 
Horseradish 
Horseradish is known botanically as 
Cochlear1a amoracia. It is a perennial 
plant of the natural order Cruciferae, 
having a stout cylindrical root, from the 
crown of which spring large radical 
leaves on long stalks four to six inches 
broad and about a foot in length. It is 
indiginous to Eastern Europe and has 
been grown for many centuries. 
The root, which is the part used com- 
mercially, is from a half inch to two 
inches in diameter, and from one foot to 
three feet in length. It has numerous 
lateral branches which when started in 
a field or garden make it very difficult 
to eradicate. 
It is dried or grated and canned, or 
in other ways preserved, and used as a 
flavoring agent on meats, in vinegars, 
etc. AS a medicine, it is anti-scorbutic. 
The following is from the Fruit-Grower 
and Farmer, and is a good description of 
the methods of production and hand- 
ling: 
“Horseradish requires a good soil, pre- 
pared in about the same manner as for 
corn. The plants withstand consider- 
able drought and are practically frost- 
proof. In fact, frost even adds to the 
flavor of the horseradish. The crop is 
propagated from root cuttings and from 
10,000 to 15,000 are required to an acre. 
The roots are planted 18 inches apart in 
the row and about 3 feet between rows. 
In planting it is important to be sure 
to turn up the top end of the cutting, 
otherwise the root will be crooked and 
not so marketable. Set the roots in a 
slightly slanting position and cover two 
or three inches deep. Cultivate as often 
during the summer as is needed to stimu- 
late growth, keep down weeds and con- 
serve the soil moisture. 
“The best root cuttings are about the 
size of a lead pencil and eight or nine 
inches in length. As there is usually 
very little taper to them, it is best to 
cut the lower end slanting and the up- 
per end square across, so as to distin- 
guish which end to put down. 
“The horseradish season lasts the year 
through to some extent, but is most ac- 
1147 
tive during the oyster season. MHarvest- 
ing begins about November ist, although 
earlier in some sections, and requires a 
great deal of hand work. There is one 
good feature, however, in that the crop 
may be left in the soil without injury 
from freezing, and be dug as needed. 
“An extensive grower near St. Joseph, 
Missouri, has two large storage caves, 
each about 200 feet long, with a shaft in 
the center leading to the outer air. The 
roots are hauled and dumped in the shaft 
and then scattered each way in the cave 
below. Here they keep perfectly and 
may be marketed at whatever time they 
are wanted. 
“The most profitable way to market 
horseradish is for the grower to grind 
the roots and pack the pulp in wide- 
mouthed bottles. There are a number of 
grinders or graters on the market for 
this purpose. Some are operated by hand 
and some by machine power, and either 
kind can usually be obtained from the 
local hardware man. 
“The bottles usually used for packing 
horseradish are of eight ounces capac- 
ity, and of such size it will usually re- 
quire about 6,000 to 8,000 to contain the 
crop of one acre of horseradish roots. 
The retail price of bottles this size is 
about 10 cents each, or 80 cents a dozen 
at wholesale. 
“In preparing the roots for grinding, 
they are at first washed and peeled. Af- 
ter grinding, the pulp is mixed with 
diluted malt vinegar at the rate of about 
six gallons of vinegar to a bushel of 
pulp. This quantity will about fill 18 
dozen eight-ounce bottles. Malt vinegar 
is considered very essential for packing 
horseradish, as cider vinegar will turn 
the product dark and makes it unsal- 
able. As malt vinegar is generally too 
sharp, it is customary to dilute it, using 
three parts water to one part of malt 
vinegar, where the vinegar is about 110 
proof. More or less water may be re- 
quired, according to the strength of the 
vinegar. It is always best to go by the 
taste of the packed product, rather than 
by any specific recipe, as the important 
thing is to maintain the piquancy of the 
horseradish as the prominent character- 
