292 
VEGETABLE GARDENING 
many. When the roots are wanted for seed production 
they must be properly preserved over winter and planted 
in the open as early as possible in the spring, about 2 x 
4 feet apart, to provide sufficient space for the lateral 
spread of the tops, which attain a height of from 2 to 
4 feet. For the production of an early crop of roots, the 
seeds must be sown as soon in the spring as the ground 
can be prepared, the short or globular varieties being 
used for this sowing. A succession of roots is secured 
by planting the same variety at intervals of two to three 
weeks or by sowing early, medium and late varieties at 
the same time. As many consumers prefer the smaller 
roots, it is customary to use early, small-rooted sorts 
throughout the season, although the half-long varieties 
are more largely planted for midsummer, fall and winter 
use. From 8 to io weeks are required to mature the 
earliest varieties and four or five months for the late. 
The latest varieties should not be planted in most sec- 
tions after the middle of June. 
Various planting distances are used by different 
growers. Ten or 12 inches between rows is sufficient 
space for the small early varieties and 15 inches is ample 
for any variety if a hand wheel hoe is to be used in cul- 
tivating. Some growers prefer to plant 24 to 30 inches 
apart and then cultivate with a horse. 
The necessary amount of seed depends mainly upon 
the variety and size of roots desired. The small roots 
are sometimes grown an inch apart in the row, when 
much more seed is required than when the roots are 
grown 4 to 6 inches apart. Ordinarily it takes from two 
to three pounds of seed to plant an acre, or one ounce to 
300 feet of drill. For the smallest roots 15 to 20 seeds 
a foot of row will not be too many, while less than half 
this number would be satisfactory for late varieties and 
larger roots. Thinning is universally practiced to secure 
large roots of uniform size, the distance between plants 
