298 The Principles of Vegetable - Gardening 



large as possible in order to fit the grating machines. 

 Fig. 79. In fact, small and branchy horse-radish can 

 scarcely be sold at any price. Although it grows in 

 old gardens with no care whatever, the plant must have 

 deep, rich soil and good care if a marketable crop is 

 produced. The price per ton varies from ten to fifty 

 dollars, and from tw^o to four tons should be raised on 

 an acre, the latter quantity when the ground is deep 

 and rich and when the plants do not suffer for moisture. 



Horse-radish, Cochlearia Armoracia^ is one of the Crueiferse 

 or Mustard family. It has been cultivated for a thousand years 

 and more, probably having been spread from eastern Europe. 

 It is now a common weed about old homesteads. The early leaves 

 are pinnatisect, but the later ones are broad and only toothed. 

 The plant blooms profusely, bearing many small white flowers in a 

 large cluster which stands 1-2 feet above the ground. Seed -pods 

 are frequently formed, but good seed is practically unknown. 

 The plant is always grown from pieces of the roots. For domestic 

 use it is grated and placed in vinegar. The grated product should 

 be kept in a tight vessel, for it loses its strength on exposure. 

 There are no horticultural varieties. For history, see Sturtevant, 

 Amer. Nat., May, 1888, pp. 431-32. 



Horse-radish will grow from a very small root -cutting (even 

 if 3^ inch or less long), but the resulting plants are usually small. 

 General experience has designated the 6 -inch cutting as the best 

 under usual conditions, although experiments are needed in respect 

 to the best kind of cutting for particular soils and circumstances. 

 In old home grounds, horse-radish is allowed to remain year after 

 year. This is well enough for the small home supply, but it 

 does not pay commercially nor does it give a product of the best 

 quality. It is customary to plant the old crowns, but sprawling, 

 crooked roots are the result. 



At Cornell University the following experiments have been 

 made (never published) with horse-radish cuttings (1890-91): 



