HORSE-RADISH 



343 



becomes developed and assumes its ordinary size and appearance. 

 Flower-stems 20 in. to 2 ft. high, branching at the top, and smooth ; 

 flowers white, small, in long clusters ; seed- 

 vessels small, rounded, and almost always 

 barren. 



Culture. — The plant delights especially 

 in good, deep, moist soil. It is propagated 

 from pieces of the root, which are planted, 

 immediately after winter, in rows 20 in. to 

 2 ft. apart, and with a distance of about 

 10 in. from piece to piece in the rows. 

 The ground should be very deeply dug 

 and well manured before planting. The 

 better the soil is prepared, the more 

 abundant will be the produce and the better 

 the quality of the roots. They may be 

 used in the autumn succeeding the spring 

 in which they are planted, but the yield 

 will be greater if they are left undisturbed 



for another year. It is a good plan to Horse-radish (i natural size) 



renew the plantation, at least partially, 



every year ; but in many gardens people do not trouble them- 

 selves about the Horse-radish, except to gather the roots, the 

 fragments which remain in the ground sufficing to keep up the 

 supply for an indefinite period ; the results, however, are more 

 satisfactory when the plants receive some attention. 



Culture. — A correspondent of 

 the Garden gave the following 

 method of growing Horse-radish, by 

 which he claimed to have produced 

 in ten months sticks that measured 

 from 5 to 8 in. in circumference : — 

 "During February, take small 

 straight pieces of the roots about the 

 size of, or somewhat smaller than, 

 the little finger ; from these remove 

 all the side-shoots and roots, and 

 form them into straight sets from 

 8 to 14 in. long. Prepare a piece 

 of ground by deeply digging and 

 well manuring it, and plant the sets 

 in it in rows 3 ft. apart and from 

 12 to 18 in. in the rows. The sets 

 must be planted in a slanting posi- 

 tion, and must not be more than 

 2 in. beneath the surface. The 

 ground at all times must be kept 



free from weeds, and should be well 

 watered in very dry weather. Plant- 

 ing the set at an angle — in fact, in 

 nearly a horizontal position — is, no 

 doubt, the great secret of success : 

 for, being placed so near the sur- 

 face, it has the full benefit of the 

 sun's heat, which causes it to make 

 rapid growth long before that which 

 is planted according to the old 

 method — i.e. from 18 to 20 in. deep, 

 and in a perpendicular position — 

 reaches the surface. I am certain 

 that want of success is to be attri- 

 buted to this alone, and that the 

 experience of any of your readers 

 who may think fit to adopt my plan 

 will be the same as my own." Mr. 

 Bradley, of Preston Hall, grows his 

 Horse-radish by sinking a common 

 round drain-tile 2 in. in the ground. 



