Crops of Quality for the Home 
These root vegetables are all hardy growers and may be planted as soon as the ground 
is in condition 
ROOT VEGETABLES 
AND THEIR CULTIVA¬ 
TION — PROPER SOIL 
CONDITIONS ARE ES¬ 
SENTIAL — CULTURAL 
DIRECTIONS FOR CAR¬ 
ROTS, RADISHES, PAR¬ 
SNIPS, BEETS, ETC. 
BY D. R. E D S O N 
T HE various root veg¬ 
etables, beets, car¬ 
rots, turnips and similar 
ones, are easy to grow. But 
as a rule one finds them 
poorer in quality, compared 
to what they ought to be, 
than most of the other gar¬ 
den vegetables. Without doubt, one reason for 
this state of affairs is that, while green peas, 
string beans or cauliflower — once they have gone 
past the proper stage—can hardly be made use of, 
beets and carrots can be used, if the cook will 
boil them long enough, thus destroying any flavor 
which they may have had originally. There is no 
reason why the root vegetables, as well as the salad 
plants, should lack either in quality or supply. 
The root crops require soil that is especially 
well prepared for several reasons. In the first 
place, the majority of them have, aside from the 
tap root, which strikes directly down into the soil, 
a feeding system composed only of comparatively 
short, fine rootlets, which cannot travel as far as 
can the roots of corn or tomatoes, for instance, in 
search of their food supplies. Then the soil 
should be so free from lumps or stones, and so 
finely pulverized, that the growing roots can ex¬ 
pand freely and develop naturally without any 
restriction ; otherwise, a very large portion of the 
crop is sure to be distorted or “spangling” in appearance. The 
quality of the crops may be injured further by the presence of 
deleterious substances in the soil, with which, as they grow deeper, 
they will come into direct contact. Fresh manures, decaying veg¬ 
etable matter, such as that from green crops plowed under, and, 
in a number of cases, lime too recently applied are apt to cause 
scab or various sorts of distorted and stunted specimens among the 
root crops. 
Among the root crops are included, of course, those vegetables 
the roots of which form the edible portion, artichokes, beets, car¬ 
rots, kohlrabi, onions, leeks, parsnips, potatoes, radish, salsify and 
turnip, — the kohlrabi being a sort of an outcast,—it is not a root 
crop in the sense of growing on or in the ground, but certainly one 
can designate it as belonging in the leaf crop class or in the fruit 
crop class. It is, in fact, a sort of an overgrown turnip, with 
ambitions in the direction of becoming a cabbage. 
These root vegetables, with the exception of potatoes, are all 
alike in several respects. They are all quite hardy, and can be 
planted practically as soon as the ground can be got into condi¬ 
tion ; they are all planted in continuous drills,—rows quite near 
together, — 12 to 15 inches for beets, — carrots, onions, radishes and 
turnip, and 15 to 20 for kohlrabi, parsnip and salsify, — the two 
latter especially should be put on rich soil 18 inches at least 
Editor’s Note: In this series of ar¬ 
ticles the most important of the classes 
of garden products will be discussed 
from the standpoint of quality. Special 
points of culture will also be sug¬ 
gested, with a view to obtaining not 
only prime quality but a continuity of 
supply throughout the season. The 
first article in the series appeared in 
the January issue and dealt with the 
growth of peas. 1 he article last month 
icas concerned with the salad plants. 
apart, — and even then the 
foliage will completely cover 
the ground. As all of these 
things may be put in at the 
same time, and with very 
little adjustment to the seed 
drill, it is well in planning 
the garden to put them to¬ 
gether in one group. But the 
beets, carrots, kohlrabi, rad¬ 
ishes and turnips should be 
placed next to each other, as they will occupy the 
ground but part of the season, and the succession 
crops can be sown when they are removed. The 
onions, parsnips and salsify, of course, will stay 
in through the entire season. With leeks, it is 
better to start them in a seed-bed and set out later. 
It is a good plan, too, where there is any choice 
in the matter, to have these things in that part of 
the garden which is farthest away from the 
house, as they are not gathered frequently, nor 
do they require as careful watching in regard to 
insects as the various leaf and fruit crops. 
The soil for root crops should not be made 
too rich. There is no practical danger of getting 
too much phosphoric acid or potash, but a super¬ 
abundance of nitrogen frequently will cause an 
A constant supply of radishes, as 
tempting in appearance as in fla¬ 
vor, may be secured 
excessive growth of top and a sub-normal root 
development. And yet these crops need nitrogen 
most during the early stages of development, 
when, on account of the cold in the soil, and the 
fact that the organic matter has not yet had a 
chance to decompose, there is usually a shortage of nitrogen. I he 
result is that where a heavy application of manure is relied upon 
alone for the root crops they have too little nitrogen during the 
early stages of growth, when it is most needed, and too much 
when they are maturing, and do not need it. So you will find it a 
good scheme, in planning your vegetable garden, to rely largely 
upon commercial fertilizers for that part of your garden in which 
the root crops are to go. If you can, buy, or, which is better, mix 
up for yourself, a 4-8-10 mixture and use it on ground heavily 
manured preferably the year before or early in the spring, at the 
rate of 1,000 to 1,500 pounds per acre. And after the root crops 
are well under way, preferably a week or so after they have been 
thinned out, give a light application of nitrate of soda, the nitrogen 
in which is immediately available, to induce a strong start. 
And also, as it is essential to have perfectly straight rows, the 
seed-bed should be made as fine and level as it can be by the use 
of a steel garden rake. Unless there is some good reason for not 
doing so, plant so as the sorts with very fine seeds, such as onions, 
carrots and turnips come next to each other. In this way they 
can all be planted together before the depth of the seeder has to 
be regulated for the larger seeds, such as beets, spinach, swiss 
chard and parsnips. The former should be planted only a quarter 
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