The leading insect enemy of young turnip plants is the Turnip-fly. If the seedlings can be protected until they get a good start in life there is no further trouble. Equal parts of wood ashes and land plaster scattered over the young turnip leaves is a good remedy. Air-slaked lime is also employed in the same manner.
The Carrot.—The wild carrot, Daucus Carota,[3] is a native of Europe and has become naturalized in this country to such an extent as to be ranked among the worst of weeds. The cultivated carrot was introduced into England by the Dutch, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth (last half of the sixteenth century), and has since been much improved and quite generally grown. In its native or wild state the root is small, woody, and of very little value as an article of food. All of our so-called “root plants” in the wild state store up only sufficient food in the root to meet the wants of the plant the coming season. This tendency to accumulate has been developed under cultivation, and an excess is stored up, which is appropriated by man. The plant has enjoyed more favorable conditions for growth and been relieved in great part of the struggle for existence that is constantly going on among wild plants. All cultivated plants are living unnatural lives, being favored in various ways, and when they are left to shift for themselves either die or drift back, generation after generation, to the old original form from which the ancestors were forced to depart. No plant is a better illustration of this fact than the carrot. If left for only a few years, the fleshy rooted plants of the garden degenerate into the coarse, woody-rooted weeds of the pasture or hedge-row. We can not pass this point without endeavoring to enforce the importance of keeping up all the most favorable conditions of growth for garden vegetables, and carefully selecting seed of plants that show the least tendency to degenerate.
The plot for growing carrots should be nearly level, otherwise heavy rains may wash the seeds and young plants out of place. The soil should be deep, rich and mellow. Carrots are no exception to the rule that root crops flourish under high culture. When the barnyard fails to supply sufficient manure, it is well to use guano, superphosphates, and other quick acting fertilizers. If the soil is heavy, it is best to sow the seed in ridges made by a plow, thus enabling a horse-weeder to pass between the rows and not injure the young plants coming through the surface. Use seed not over one year old, and it is well to sow some radish seed with it, to come up first and show the rows, thus aiding in the early cultivation of the soil. It is of the greatest importance to keep the weeds down until the carrots get a good start. About six weeks after sowing, that is, the middle of July, thin the plants, leaving them four or five inches apart in the row. The carrots are dug and stored like most root crops. If grown in large quantities, most of the labor of getting the roots out of the soil is performed by horses. Carrots keep well in long piles, six feet wide at the bottom, and of any length. Ventilating holes need to be left at frequent intervals along the ridge of the covered heap. There are several varieties of carrots, some of them being earlier than others, while the size and general shape varies greatly. The Long Orange, Short Horn, Early Horn and White Belgian are among the leading sorts. Market gardeners are now favoring the shorter sorts, the endeavor being to get them turnip-shaped, and thus save much labor in digging the roots.
Beets.—The species Beta vulgaris,[4] the parent of our common beets, is a native of Egypt, and grows wild along the Mediterranean Sea at the present day. The name is from the Celtic word Bett, meaning red, the prevailing color of most beets. This garden vegetable has been generally grown for six hundred years, and during that time has undergone many important changes. Long ago the beet arrived at a state of perfection beyond which it is not easy to pass. The Mangold-Wurzel[5] and Sugar Beets are derived from another species. These are grown very extensively in Europe and are worthy of far more attention by American farmers. The Swiss Chard is another species of the genus Beta, largely grown in some countries for the leaves, which only are used. They are stripped off and used like spinach. The soil best adapted to the growing of beets is a rich, sandy loam, rather light than otherwise. It should be thoroughly pulverized by deep plowing, harrowing, etc., until a fine, mellow bed is prepared for the seeds. The seeds are sown in rows, and the soil should be pressed firmly upon them. For early beets the sowing may be done so soon as the ground can be worked. The late sorts may be sown in July. As soon as the plants are above ground a push-hoe should be passed close to the rows. A few days later the beets need to be thinned to five or six inches in the row. The removed plants make excellent greens. The remaining work until harvest time is keeping the soil free from weeds and loose by frequent hoeing. The rake is better than the hoe, if it is used frequently and no weeds get large. Beets should be harvested before frosts injure them. Handle carefully and store in a place where the temperature is uniformly a few degrees above freezing.
The Egyptian is among the best early sorts; it has a dark blood color, and much resembles a flat turnip in shape. The Long, Smooth, Blood Beet is considered as ranking first for general family and market uses.
The Mangold-Wurzels are coarse beets of large size, grown as a field crop for live stock. The White Sugar is a Mangold, free from much of the red coloring matter of the red sorts. These larger varieties of beets are very extensively grown in Europe for the manufacture of sugar, and it would add to our agricultural wealth if they were more frequently a part of a well planned system of rotation of crops in America. It may not pay for us to make beet sugar, but the use of the roots as a wholesome winter food for stock is profitable.
Onions.—The onion (Allium cepa[6]) has been cultivated from early times, and its native country is unknown. As it is mentioned in sacred writings it is supposed that its home is in the far East. Onions thrive best on old ground, especially if it is a light, sandy loam. The onion field should be nearly level, clear of weeds, and liberally supplied with the best well-rotted manure; guano and superphosphates are excellent for onions. Deep plowing is not necessary. The amount of seed to be used depends upon the kind of onions desired. If they are to be pulled for early market, more seed is required than when they are to attain their full growth.
There are many varieties of onions grown from seeds. The Yellow Danvers, White Portugal and Weathersfield Red are well known sorts, representing the three prevailing colors. Onions are largely grown from sets, that is, bulbs that have ripened while quite small, and when set out grow and form large onions. The small size and early maturity are due to sowing the seed thick. From thirty to forty seeds are sown to each inch of the row. The sets are mature when the leaves begin to wither, and are then removed and dried. In planting the sets they are placed in rows about four inches apart.
The “Potato Onion” or “English Multiplier” is propagated by offsets. An onion of this class, if planted in the spring, will produce a cluster of small ones around it. These small onions will grow into large ones the next season. There are several sorts of onions that bear clusters of small bulbs upon the tops of the flower stalks, in place of seed pods. The “Tree,” “Top,” and “Egyptian” onions are of this class. These bulblets, when planted, produce large bulbs, and these latter, when set out the following season, throw up stalks bearing bulblets.
Onions are ready for harvesting as soon as the leaves droop and become dry. The bulbs should be well cured and placed in a dry, cool, storage room. The crop is sometimes badly injured by smut, especially when onions have been grown upon the same soil for many years. The onion maggot causes some destruction. Guano and unleached ashes, when scattered over the bed, have both proved of value.