1882.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



147 



NOTES ON BEETS. 



Having grown an assortment of Beets for 

 exhibition, I avail myself of the experience 

 gained in growing them (added to previous 

 experience as a gardener of thirty years' 

 service), to note their respective character- 

 istics and value. 



The Blood Turnip Beet is the favorite 

 standard variety in nearly all private gar- 

 dens, and as a market Beet. There are 

 many sub-varieties, the earliest of which, 

 introduced about ten years ago, is the Bark- 

 Bed Egyptian. This, when young, is of ex- 

 cellent quality, but needs successive plant- 

 ing if relied upon for all-summer supply, 

 and is of little value under any circum- 

 stances for winter use. Previous to the 

 advent of the Egyptian Beet, the Early Bas- 

 sano was the favorite, and a very fine Beet 

 it is. But even had not the Egyptian come 

 to supplant it, Bastian's Early Blood Turnip 

 Beet would have done so, I think. Bastian's 

 Beet is rather obscured by the Egyptian, 

 and is not widely grown, but is nevertheless 

 a valuable variety, and has the merit of 

 keeping its tenderness through the summer, 

 not needing successive plantings. Hatch's 

 Early Turnip Beet is a variety popular around 



LONG SMOOTH DARK BLOOD BEET. 



Boston, while Simon's Early Turnip Beet, is 

 in use near Philadelphia. But, undoubtedly, 

 the best of this class for general use is 

 Dewmg's, which is very thorough-bred, with 

 small neck, smooth root, and symmetrical 

 form. I do not know how it could be bet- 

 tered. 



The half-long varieties are quite exten- 

 sively grown, and are in no particular 

 inferior to any others, though more popu- 

 lar, so far as my experience extends, in 

 private gardens than among market-men. 

 They, as well as the long-rooted sorts, are 

 rather better keepers through the winter 

 than any of the Turnip-shaped ; yet all kinds 

 need to be kept packed in sand to retain 

 their plumpness and flavor, and when so 

 packed I find Dewing's Turnip Beet to keep 

 well until the new crop is ready. The longer 

 sorts, however, are more productive, and a 

 small bed will therefore give a larger sup- 

 ply, which is often very desirable to those 



whose garden is small. Among the half- 

 long kinds none are better than the Common 

 Half-long and Bastian's Half-long. The lat- 

 ter is quite distinct, and of a fine dark color. 

 The Beep Bed Castelnandary and Bough- 

 skinned belong to the half-long class, but do 

 not seem to have become popular. Fine- 



EARLY BASSANO BEET. 



apple is also a half-long of great merit, with .' 

 very dark red foliage and roots. 



The long-rooted Beets have rather gone 

 out of fashion, except with old-fashioned I 

 gardeners ; yet we never had a better Beet I 

 than the old Long Smooth Dark Blood Beet. [ 

 It is still a favorite with many, and, if the 

 strain of this Beet has been kept pure and 



DARK RED EGYPTIAN BEET. 



well selected, it is especially to be recom- 

 mended to those who grow for exhibition. 

 And, by the way, nothing looks nicer at a 

 fair than a well grown and well displayed 

 show of Beets. It always attracts atten- 

 tion, and deserves it. 



It will not do, in an article like this, to 

 omit the Field Beets ; but the list, if I were 



DEWING'S BLOOD TURNIP BEET. 



to choose it, would not be long. Lane's 

 Improved Sugar Beet and the Yellow Ovoid 

 Mangold seem to me the best, though for 

 shallow soils the Bed or Yellow (ilobes may 

 be preferred. The Long Bed Mangold is a 

 nuisance, in my opinion, both in the field 

 and in the cellar, sprawling around, " all 



over everything," and as crooked as the old 

 lady's fire-wood, which she said was "so 

 crooked that it could not lie still." Yet many 

 grow it without complaint. 



The Chard Beets do not seem to be very 

 popular, and some seedsmen do not offer 

 them at all. But since the Beet An thorny ia 

 fly, with its nasty, white little grubs feeding 

 upon the leaves, have put an end to Beet 

 Greens, I cannot but advise the planting of 

 Chards, the thick mid-ribs, or ehards, of 

 which are an excellent summer substitute 

 for Asparagus, and are, when well grown, 

 as tender and rapidly reproduced as Spinach. 

 A good variety is the Swiss Chard ; but, on 

 the authority of that most excellent author- 

 ity, my own and the public's friend, Mr. C. 

 Gr. Pringle, I recommend, as still better, 

 Beck's Improved Sea-kale Beet, which is quite 

 a curiosity among Beets, the leaf stocks 

 being very broad and thick, and about 

 a foot long, exceedingly tender and fine 

 flavored. I do not think our gardening 



LANE'S IMPROVED SUGAR BEET. 



friends can afford to neglect these varieties 

 if they mean to have " all the delicacies of 

 the season." 



Dr. T. H. Hoskins. 



POTATO NOTES, 



Experiments in Potato culture, carefully 

 carried out duringthe years 1880 and 1881, 

 on the Munster Farm and Dairy School of 

 the Cork (Ireland) Agricultural Society, 

 show that Potatoes manured with large 

 quantities of ammoniacal manures were 

 among the first affected by disease, while 



I those grown with phosphates were wholly 

 unaffected, though in close proximity at 



I either side with diseased Potatoes. 



In storing Potatoes it should always be 



' kept in mind that dampness encourages the 

 fungus, and that stagnant humidity, whether 

 in field or cellar, is deadly to potatoes, 

 because favorable to the growth of fungi. 



