BEETS.
Seed of these should be sown when the first planting is done in the spring. They may be had still carlier by planting the seed in a hotbed while the ground is still frozen, and transplanting them to the gardon a week or so after the cabbage and lettuce have been planted out. Care must be taken in transplanting the young beets, that the tap-root does not get broken, or it will make a number of fibrous roots instead of the large, smooth globe desired for the table. When the seed is woll up, the plants should be thinned out until they stand six or ten inches apart, as the size of the variety demands. A second sowing should be made about June 1st, and the main sowing about the 15th of July or 1st of August, to raise roots for winter use. These frequent sowings are necessary to have the beets of fine quality; as the roots get older and larger they become “woody,” or hard and fibrous, and exceedingly tasteless. Where the season is short, or there are prospects of a dry fall, the second sowing should be large enough to produce the winter crop, as the later one may fail to mature in time. The beets may be stored and the flavor retained by the method described for pitting turnips, and will keep in good order until spring.
The Bassano and other light beets are of quick growth and are tender and palatable while young, but are of coarse texture and not nearly so fine in appearance when cooked as the blood beets. The blood beets retain their deep, rich color, while all the light-leaved or light-stemmed varieties are colorless, or nearly so, when cooked. It certainly adds to the
