The Field and Garden Vegetables of America | Page 8

the quality of the roots.
The seed may be sown from the middle of April to the last of May. If
sown in drills, they should be at least eighteen inches apart, and the
plants should be thinned to ten inches in the drills. If sown on ridges,
the sowing should be made in double rows; the ridges being three and a
half or four feet apart, and the rows fifteen inches apart. The yield
varies with the quality of the soil and the state of cultivation; thirty and
thirty-five tons being frequently harvested from an acre.
While young, the roots are tender and well-flavored, and are sometimes
employed for table use.
LONG WHITE GREEN-TOP MANGEL WURZEL.
Green-top White Sugar. Long White Mangel Wurzel. Disette Blanche à
Collet Verte. Vil.
An improved variety of the White Sugar Beet. Root produced much
above ground, and of very large size; if well grown, measuring nearly
six inches in diameter, and eighteen inches in depth,--the diameter
often retained for nearly two-thirds the length. Skin green, where
exposed to light and air; below ground, white. Flesh white. Leaves
green, rather large, and not so numerous as those of the White Sugar.

Very productive, and superior to the last named for agricultural
purposes; the quality being equally good, and the yield much greater.
LONG YELLOW MANGEL WURZEL.
Jaune Grosse. Vil.
[Illustration: Long Yellow Mangel Wurzel.]
Root somewhat fusiform, contracted towards the crown, which rises six
or eight inches above the surface of the ground. Size remarkably large;
when grown in deep rich soil, often measuring twenty inches in length,
and five or six inches in thickness. Skin yellow, bordering on
orange-color. Flesh pale yellow, zoned or circled with white, not
close-grained, but sugary. Leaves comparatively large, pale green; the
stems and nerves yellow; the nerves paler.
The variety is one of the most productive of the field-beets; but the
roots are neither smooth nor symmetrical, a majority being forked or
much branched.
In the vicinity of Paris, it is extensively cultivated, and is much
esteemed by dairy farmers on account of the rich color which it imparts
to milk when fed to dairy-stock. Compared with the German Yellow,
the roots of this variety are longer, not so thick, more tapering; and the
flesh is of a much deeper color. It has also larger foliage.

PINE-APPLE SHORT-TOP. Hov. Mag.
Root of medium size, fusiform. Skin deep purplish-red. Flesh very deep
blood-red, fine-grained, as sweet as the Bassano, tender, and of
excellent quality for table use. Leaves very short and few in number,
reddish-green; leaf-stems and nerves blood-red.
In its foliage, as well as in the color of the root, it strongly resembles
some of the Long Blood varieties; but it is not so large, is much finer in
texture, and superior in flavor. It is strictly a garden or table beet, and,

whether for fall or winter use, is well deserving of cultivation.
RED CASTELNAUDARY. Trans.
This beet derives its name from a town in the province of Languedoc in
France, where the soil is particularly adapted to the growth of these
vegetables, and where this variety, which is so much esteemed in
France for its nut-like flavor, was originally produced.
The roots grow within the earth. The leaves are thickly clustered
around the crown, spreading on the ground. The longest of the
leaf-stems do not exceed three inches: these and the veins of the leaves
are quite purple, whilst the leaves themselves are green, with only a
slight stain of purple. The root is little more than two inches in diameter
at the top, tapering gradually to the length of nine inches. The flesh,
which is of a deep purple, and exhibits dark rings, preserves its fine
color when boiled, is very tender and sweet, and presents a delicate
appearance when cut in slices.
Being small in its whole habit, it occupies but little space in the ground,
and may be sown closer than other varieties usually are.
Not generally known or much cultivated in this country.
RED GLOBE MANGEL WURZEL.
Betterave Globe Rouge. Vil.
Root nearly spherical, but tapering to pear-shaped at the base; nearly
one-third produced above ground. Size large; well-grown specimens
measuring seven or eight inches in diameter, and nine or ten inches in
depth. Skin smooth, and of a rich purplish rose-color below ground;
brown above the surface, where exposed to the sun. Flesh white, rarely
circled, with rose-red. Leaves pale green, or yellowish green; the stems
and ribs or nerves sometimes veined with red.
This variety is productive, keeps well, and, like the Yellow Globe, is
well adapted to hard and shallow soils. It is usually cultivated for

agricultural purposes, although the yield is comparatively less than that
of the last named.
In moist soils, the Yellow Globe succeeds best; and, as