274 Account of the Species and Varieties of Beets. 



are of different lengths, and spreading ; the outer ones grow 

 on foot-stalks about nine inches long, the inner ones are nu- 

 merous in the centre, and very short, forming as it were, a 

 rose of leaves on the crown of the root ; the foot-stalks and 

 veins are crimson, more rounded than those of the preceding, 

 and of a very dark shining lurid purple ; the root tapers 

 like a Carrot, and in good ground attains the length of fifteen 

 or eighteen inches, throwing out strong fibres, but no fangs ; 

 the top of the root generally exceeds three inches in dia- 

 meter ; its colour is bright scarlet ; the concentric rings are 

 perceptible in the root when it is cut, but they are not 

 white. When boiled, the colour is a deep pink, often darker, 

 exhibiting large rings ; it is sweet, but sometimes earthy, and 

 is very apt to be stringy, and therefore, not so worthy of cul- 

 tivation, as some others. 



The third sort is the Dwarf Red Beet; it is the variety 

 most cultivated in the Royal Gardens at Kew. It has a strong 

 resemblance, in many points, to the preceding, but is a pre- 

 ferable kind. The root grows within the ground; the 

 leaves in habit are similar to those of the second sort, but 

 they are smaller, less numerous, and grow on shorter foot- 

 stalks, the outer ones not exceeding four inches in length ; 

 the colour of the leaves is as deep or deeper than that of 

 the second sort, but it is less shining, and the footstalks and 

 veins are darker; the root tapers to the length, of twelve 

 inches, and bears only very fine fibres, differing in this re- 

 spect from the preceding ; the diameter at the top is about 

 three inches ; its colour is crimson, shewing rings, but very 

 slightly. It boils of a deep pink, is tender, and perfectly 

 free from all stringiness. 



