The Field and Garden Vegetables of America | Page 3

Plants.
The Artichoke. Asparagus. Cardoon. Hop. Oosung. Phytolacca.
149-169
CHAP. IV.--Cucurbitaceous Plants.
The Cucumber. Egyptian Cucumber. Globe Cucumber. Gourd, or
Calabash. The Melon. Musk-melon. Persian Melons. Water-melon.
Papanjay, or Sponge Cucumber. Prickly-fruited Gherkin. Pumpkin.
Snake Cucumber. Squash. 170-228
CHAP. V.--Brassicaceous Plants.

Borecole, or Kale. Broccoli. Brussels Sprouts. Cabbage. Cauliflower.
Colewort. Couve Tronchuda, or Portugal Cabbage. Pak-Chöi. Pe-Tsai,
or Chinese Cabbage. Savoy. Sea-kale. 229-286
CHAP. VI.--Spinaceous Plants.
Amaranthus. Black Nightshade. Leaf-beet, or Swiss Chard. Malabar
Nightshade. Nettle. New-Zealand Spinach. Orach. Patience Dock.
Quinoa. Sea-beet. Shepherd's Purse. Sorrel. Spinach. Wild or Perennial
Spinach. 287-314
CHAP. VII.--Salad Plants.
Alexanders. Brook-lime. Buckshorn Plantain. Burnet. Caterpillar.
Celery. Celeriac, or Turnip-rooted Celery. Chervil. Chiccory, or
Succory. Corchorus. Corn Salad. Cress, or Peppergrass. Cuckoo Flower.
Dandelion. Endive. Horse-radish. Lettuce. Madras Radish. Mallow,
Curled-leaf. Mustard. Nasturtium. Garden Picridium. Purslain. Rape.
Roquette, or Rocket. Samphire. Scurvy-grass. Snails. Sweet-scented
Chervil, or Sweet Cicely. Tarragon. Valeriana. Water-cress.
Winter-cress, or Yellow Rocket. Wood-sorrel. Worms. 315-405
CHAP. VIII.--Oleraceous Plants.
Angelica. Anise. Balm. Basil. Borage. Caraway. Clary. Coriander.
Costmary. Cumin. Dill. Fennel. Lavender. Lovage. Marigold.
Marjoram. Nigella. Parsley. Peppermint. Rosemary. Sage. Savory.
Spearmint. Tansy. Thyme. 406-449
CHAP. IX.--Leguminous Plants.
American Garden-bean. Asparagus-bean. Lima Bean. Scarlet-runner.
Sieva. Chick-pea. Chickling Vetch. English Bean. Lentil. Lupine. Pea.
Pea-nut. Vetch, or Tare. Winged Pea. 450-560
CHAP. X.--Medicinal Plants.
Bene-plant. Camomile. Coltsfoot. Elecampane. Hoarhound. Hyssop.

Licorice. Pennyroyal. Poppy. Palmate-leaved or Turkey Rhubarb. Rue.
Saffron. Southernwood. Wormwood. 561-578
CHAP. XI.--Mushrooms, or Esculent Fungi.
Agaricus. Boletus. Clavaria. Morchella, or Morel. Tuber, or Truffle.
579-591
CHAP. XII.--Miscellaneous Vegetables.
Alkekengi, or Ground Cherry. Corn. Egg-plant. Martynia. Oil Radish.
Okra, or Gumbo. Pepper. Rhubarb, or Pie-plant. Sunflower. Tobacco.
Tomato. 592-652
INDEX 655

FIELD AND GARDEN VEGETABLES.
CHAPTER I.
ESCULENT ROOTS.
The Beet. Carrot. Chervil, Turnip-rooted. Chinese Potato, or Japanese
Yam. Chufa, or Earth Almond. German Rampion. Jerusalem Artichoke.
Kohl Rabi. Oxalis, Tuberous. Oxalis, Deppes. Parsnip. Potato. Radish.
Rampion. Swede, or Ruta-baga Turnip. Salsify, or Oyster Plant.
Scolymus. Scorzonera. Skirret. Sweet Potato. Tuberous-rooted
Chickling Vetch. Tuberous-rooted Tropæolum. Turnip.
THE BEET.
Beta vulgaris.
The Common Beet, sometimes termed the Red Beet, is a half-hardy
biennial plant; and is cultivated for its large, succulent, sweet, and
tender roots. These attain their full size during the first year, but will
not survive the winter in the open ground. The seed is produced the

second year; after the ripening of which, the plant perishes.
When fully developed, the beet-plant rises about four feet in height,
with an angular, channelled stem; long, slender branches; and large,
oblong, smooth, thick, and fleshy leaves. The flowers are small, green,
and are either sessile, or produced on very short peduncles. The calyxes,
before maturity, are soft and fleshy; when ripe, hard and wood-like in
texture. These calyxes, which are formed in small, united, rounded
groups, or clusters, are of a brownish color, and about one-fourth of an
inch in diameter; the size, however, as well as depth of color, varying,
to some extent, in the different varieties. Each of these clusters of dried
calyxes contains from two to four of the true seeds, which are quite
small, smooth, kidney-shaped, and of a deep reddish-brown color.
These dried clusters, or groups, are usually recognized as the seeds;
about fifteen hundred of which will weigh one ounce. They retain their
vitality from seven to ten years.
Soil and Fertilizers.--The soil best adapted to the beet is a deep, light,
well-enriched, sandy loam. When grown on thin, gravelly soil, the roots
are generally tough and fibrous; and when cultivated in cold, wet,
clayey localities, they are often coarse, watery, and insipid, worthless
for the table, and comparatively of little value for agricultural purposes.
A well-digested compost, formed of barnyard manure, loam and salt,
makes the best fertilizer. Where this is not to be obtained, guano,
superphosphate of lime, or bone-dust, may be employed
advantageously as a substitute. Wood-ashes, raked or harrowed in just
previous to sowing the seed, make an excellent surface-dressing, as
they not only prevent the depredations of insects, but give strength and
vigor to the young plants. The application of coarse, undigested, strawy
manure, tends to the production of forked and misshapen roots, and
should be avoided.
Propagation and Culture.--Beets are always raised from seed. For early
use, sowings are sometimes made in November; but the general
practice is to sow the seed in April, as soon as the frost is out of the
ground, or as soon as the soil can be worked. For use in autumn, the

seed should be sown about the middle or 20th of May; and, for the
winter supply, from the first to the middle of June. Lay out the ground
in beds five or six feet in width, and of a length proportionate to the
supply required; spade or fork the soil deeply and thoroughly over; rake
the surface smooth and even; and draw the drills across the bed,