Varieties.—The varieties are quite numerous, and vary to a considerable extent in size, form, color, and quality. They are obtained by crossing, or by the intermixture of one kind with another. This often occurs naturally when two or more varieties are allowed to run to seed in close proximity, but is sometimes performed artificially by transferring the pollen from the flower of a particular variety to the stigma of the flower of another.
The kinds now in cultivation are as follows; viz.:—
Bark-skinned. Vil.
Bark-skinned
Beet.
Oak Bark-skinned.
Root produced entirely within the earth, broadest near the crown, and thence tapering regularly to a point; average specimens measuring four inches in their greatest diameter, and about one foot in depth. Skin dark brown, thick, hard, and wrinkled, or striated, sometimes reticulated or netted, much resembling the bark of some descriptions of trees; whence the name. Flesh very deep purplish-red, circled, and rayed with paler red, fine-grained, sugary, and tender. Leaves numerous, spreading, bright green, slightly stained with red; the leaf-stems and nerves bright purplish-red.
An early and comparatively new French variety, of fine flavor, excellent for summer use, and, if sown as late as the second week in June, equally valuable for the table during winter. Not recommended for field culture.
Sow in rows fourteen inches apart, and thin to six inches apart in the rows.
Barrott's New Crimson. Thomp.