3 2 
HINTS ON THE CULTIVATION OF BEET AND 
CARROT. 
BEET. 
French — Betterave, POTAGERE. German — RunicelrUBE. Dutch — Betwortel. 
It a Han — Barbabi etoi .a. Span ish — R e m o l a c h a . 
Description. — A vegetable grown for its root, which is boiled and sliced into 
salads, or pickled. 
Varieties. — Round-rooted types and long-rooted ones. Some have bright crimson 
flesh, others dark blod red, and a few have white flesh. The dark shining-leaved sorts 
are often used in the decoration of flower beds and borders. 
Sowing Season. — Beet is rather tender, and should not be sown out of doors 
before April. 
How TO Sow. — In lines or drills at the rate of one ounce of seed to 40 feet of 
length, the seedlings being ultimately thinned out to 1 foot apart. The rows should be 
2 feet apart, and the drills about 1 inch deep. 
General Culture. — Beet prefers a nice clean soil, fairly rich, and deeply dug. 
Iloeing frequently between the rows during summer, and keeping weeds out of the 
lines, is about all the work needed. For the boring process adopted by Exhibitors see 
Carrot. 
Seasons when Ready. — Round Beet is very quick in maturing, and ready 
for use in the summer salads ; but the long rooting variety requires the whole 
season to develop, and may not be fit to lift until October. 
Storing. — See Carrot. 
Enemies. — The Carrot 
Fly, which lays its eggs at 
the neck of the roots ; wire- 
worm, which eats into the 
roots ; and slugs, which eat 
off the seedlings. All can 
be checked by dustings of 
soot, lime, and pepper. 
Storing. — If wanted for 
winter use, the roots should 
be carefully lifted and laid 
in dry earth or sand in a shed in heaps, the head being outward ( see I Lustration). 
are shortened the roots will keep fresh through the winter. 
A BEET OR CARROT GROWN BY THE 
BORING PROCESS. 
If the surplus leaves 
CARROT. — ( See pages 30 and 31.) 
French — Carotte. German — Mftn REN. Dutch — Peen Wortel. 
Italian — Carota. Spanish— Zan diio r 1 a. 
Description. — A vegetable, the root of which is edible. 
Varieties. — There are short-rooted and long-rooted kinds, varying in degrees 
of earliness, shape, and colour. With the exception of Carters’ Long Forcing, all the very 
early types are short rooted. 
Soil. — Medium to light, fairly rich. 
Sowing Season. — Early Carrots are grown 
in frames, and often on hot beds, to be available for gathering during winter. 
Others are sown in boxes and transplanted, and first sowings arc made 
on warm borders in February to be ready for palling in spring. The main 
crops are sown in March and April, and are not ready until summer is 
well advanced. 
W I REWORMS ATTACKING 
BEET, AND THE SAME 
OFTEN HAPPENS TO 
CARROTS. 
How TO Sow. — In drills about 12 to 15 inches apart, thinning the 
seedlings from 4 to 9 inches according to the variety. 
General Culture. — Keep weeds down, and stir the soil with a 
hoe occasionally during the summer ; while young, dust with lime and 
soot about once a week to check slugs, and more frequently during moist 
weather. 
Leading Exhibitors follow the boring process in order to raise symmetrical specimens ( see Illustration ) . This 
plan is adopted to give a fine, long, even growth. In explanation, we may remark that two iron bars are brought 
into play — first a stout one for making a hole 18 inches deep, and a thinner and longer bar is used to extend the 
depth another foot. Well prepared loamy compost is then filled into the holes and pressed down, wl ile into the 
surface five or six seeds are carefully planted. Having grown fairly large, the plants are thinned out. The 
strong one near the centre is left in the soil, and in the enriched ground the plant quickly asserts itself. This method 
of culture applies only to long-rooted varieties. 
2381 & 97s High Holborn, London.— 1504. 
