228 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



ties are grown, few if any of the leaves 

 should be cut off. A dry day should be 

 chosen, and when the roots have been ex- 

 posed for a few hours, to dry the soil that 

 may adhere to them, they should be packed 

 by as noticed above. Some prefer pack- 

 ing the roots, for preservation during win- 

 ter, in sifted coal- ashes, assigning as a 

 reason that ashes are less likely to encou- 

 rage decay; and others recommend plac- 

 ing them on shelves elevated a little above 

 the floor in dampish cellars, believing that 

 the air passing around them tends to their 

 preservation. Both plans may be good in 

 very damp cellars, but otherwise the roots 

 would be liable to become shrivelled and 

 dried up. The leaves should not be cut 

 off closer to the crown of the root than 6 

 or 8 inches. The roots will keep till the 

 July following. 



List of approved sorts and their qualities. — 

 Whyte's black. — Judging from its appearance in 

 a growing state, it would be by most pronounced 

 a coarse sort, on account of the largeness and 

 want of red colour in the leaves. It is, how- 

 ever, the darkest beet grown, but should not be 

 sown before May. 



Castlenaudari. — A good variety, brought into 

 notice some years ago by the London Horticul- 

 tural Society. It is much used in France, and 

 prized on account of its flavour, which resem- 

 bles that of the kernel of a nut. It is the Bette- 

 rave rouge de Castlenaudri of the " Bon Jar- 

 dinier." 



Glen dwarf -red. — A very excellent crimson 

 variety grown by Mr Handisyde of the Glen 

 nurseries, Fisherrow ; roots scarcely 9 inches 

 in length, of uniform shape, not disposed to 

 fork, with small thin dark- coloured leaves, 

 scarcely 7 inches in length. 



Cuttel's dwarf-red and Atkins' crimson. — Very 

 similar to the last, all the three growing a good 

 deal above ground. 



Small deep-red. — We have grown this and the 

 following for several years from the stock of 

 Messrs P. Lawson and Son, who describe it in 

 " Vegetable Products of Scotland," p. 24, thus : 

 " Leaves rather small and spreading, of a very 

 deep red colour ; roots growing more above 

 ground ; smaller and more bluntly tapered than 

 those of the common 4 red beet ;' both in skin 

 and flesh of a much deeper blood-red colour. 

 Known also as superb deep blood-red." 



New blood-red or mulberry. — " This seems a 

 sub- variety of the small deep-red, from which it 

 differs chiefly in being of a much darker or al- 

 most blackish mulberry colour." 



Barrot's new crimson. — This very excellent 

 variety is less liable to fork than the Castlenau- 

 dari ; colour very dark crimson, leaf-stalks 

 tinged with yellow. Considered by Mr Thom- 

 son the best beet grown. 



Insects and diseases. — The beet is not very 



liable to either, if in proper soil and under good 

 cultivation. 



General remarks. — The European names are 

 Bette-rave in French ; Barba-Biettola in Italian ; 

 Biet-wortel, or Karoot, in Dutch; Kothe Rube 

 in German ; and Betarraga in Spanish. In sav- 

 ing seed, select the best formed roots, and try 

 the colour by making a slight incision, which 

 afterwards dry up with a little caustic lime. 

 Both form and colour constitute their merits. 

 Transplant them, and treat them as recom- 

 mended for carrots and parsnips. Only in cold 

 situations plant them in a warm sheltered place, 

 against a south wall if there is room, or support 

 them with stakes as the flower-stems extend, to 

 prevent their being broken by the wind. One 

 plant will produce seed enough for a small gar- 

 den. No two varieties should be thrown to- 

 gether ; and as the seed will retain its vegeta- 

 tive properties for nine or ten years, it is better 

 to save one sort only annually. 



§ 6. — SALSIFY j SKIRRET, ETC. 



Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius L. — leek- 

 leaved salsify) belongs to the natural order 

 Composite, tribe Scorzonerese, and to the class 

 Syngenesia iEqualis in the Linnsean arrange- 

 ment. The generic name is derived from Tragos, 

 goat, &ndpogon, beard, from the bearded appear- 

 ance of the seeds— vulgarly goat's-beard ; the 

 specific name from Porrium, the leek, on account 

 of the resemblance of the leaves to those of the 

 leek. Indigenous to England, but not very 

 common. The roots, which are the only parts 

 eaten, are long, white, and fleshy, tapering like 

 the parsnip, but never attaining the same diame- 

 ter. Tragopogon pratensis was cultivated in 

 gardens in the time of Parkinson ; but that spe- 

 cies has been superseded by our present subject. 

 It has been hitherto confined to gardens of the 

 first order, but would be worth the attention of 

 amateurs, as affording an additional dish of 

 vegetable diet. 



The roots are used simply boiled, like carrots 

 and parsnips; the flavour is mild and sweetish. 

 Dressed like asparagus, there is some resem- 

 blance in taste ; and the flower-stalks, if cut in 

 spring on the second year before they become 

 hard, and dressed like asparagus, make an excel- 

 lent dish. 



It is propagated by seed sown in drills an- 

 nually in March, April, and towards the latter end 

 of May for succession. The drills should be 18 

 inches apart, and 2 inches deep. When the plants 

 come up, thin to 6 inches in the lines, and 

 keep them clear of weeds. In August and Sep- 

 tember, and thence through the winter, the 

 roots will be fit for use ; and in November, take 

 up those remaining, and store them by for win- 

 ter use in the same manner as parsnips. They 

 are quite hardy, and may remain all winter in 

 the ground, if it is not required for re-crop- 

 ping or improving. One ounce of seed will sow 

 a drill 40 feet in length. To increase the 

 size of the roots, water with liquid manure dur- 

 ing hot dry weather. The seed keeps good for 

 four years. 



