12 BULLETIN 503, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF. AGRICULTURE. 
may be due to insufficient masticatlion—a common occurrence in the 
case of succulent foods. 
Besides the common radish, of which the pink or red form is the 
best known, there are larger sorts, sometimes called turnip radish, 
which are white or purplish in color. These are at their best in 
summer, but have such good keeping qualities that they may be held 
over for winter use. Though common in many American markets, 
these larger varieties are less well known than in parts of Europe. 
There is also a large variety of Japanese radish which has been 
grown to some extent in the United States. 
Though most commonly eaten raw, radishes, especially the larger 
sorts, are also cooked and served like creamed turnip, which they 
much resemble in flavor. The leaves can be used for greens, or if 
they are very tender can be added to salads. The young and tender 
seed pods of some varieties are sometimes used for pickling like 
eapers; in fact, the Madras or rat-tail radish is grown exclusively 
for its pods, which are cooked and also used in pickle making. 
TURNIPS. 
Many varieties of turnips are grown throughout temperate cli- 
mates, some of which are coarse in texture and used as food for farm 
animals, while others are raised as table vegetables. There is con- 
siderable variation in the color, flavor, and composition of the turnip, 
there being two groups commonly distinguished, one having leaves 
with a smooth surface and glaucous bloom and called “ Swedes” or 
“rutabagas.” Turnips are usually white-fleshed and rutabagas yel- 
low-fleshed, though the distinction does not always hold good. In 
the summer the early white varieties are usually preferred in spite of 
the fact that they are more watery, while in winter the yellow turnips 
are more commonly used. Solid as the turnip roots appear, they 
contain on an average about 89 per cent of water, or a trifle more 
than is found in whole milk. The total amount of nitrogenous sub- 
stance is small, and only about 20 per cent of the total present is in 
the form of true protein. Carbohydrates are the principal nutritive 
material, glucose, cane sugar, pectose, pentosans, and crude fiber 
being the characteristic forms. The flavor of the turnip, like that of 
its relatives, the cabbage and the radish, is due principally to com- 
pounds of sulphur, which are so volatile that when turnips are fed 
to cows these compounds pass through the body tissues and into the 
milk and give it an unmistakable flavor. In cooking, these pungent 
substances are broken down to some extent and pass off into the air. 
KOHL-RABI. 
Kohl-rabi, or turnip-rooted cabbage, represents a curious variety 
of the turnip and cabbage family in which the reserve material of 
the plant is stored in an above-ground tuberlike enlargement of the 
