The Turnip-rooted Beets are usually grown for summer use, because they
mature early. For many years the variety known as the Early Blood
Turnip-Beet has been held in high estimation, both on account of its
rich color, and good flavor. Then came the Early Bassano, not so dark in
color, yet presenting a beautiful alternation of white and rose when cut
into slices, and maturing a little earlier than the Blood Turnip-Beet.
Within a few years a variety known as the Egyptian Blood Turnip-Beet has
been gaining a place in our gardens. It is rich in color, tender and
sweet, and comes to maturity the earliest of them all. On this account
it is a favorite with market-gardeners, who often find it to their
advantage to be able to supply their customers early in the season.
Beets delight in a rich and mellow soil. In cold and damp soils they are
apt to be coarse and of poor flavor. The seed may be sown as early in
the season as the ground can be worked. It should be planted in drills,
eighteen inches apart, and two inches apart in the drill, and at a depth
of an inch and a half. The seed will germinate more certainly and
quickly if it be first soaked for a few hours in warm water, just before
planting. When the young plants have grown to a height of about three
inches they will require to be thinned out so as to stand from four to
five inches apart. The young Beets that are pulled up in thinning out
make most excellent greens, cooked tops and all. By taking out only a
part at a time, the table can be supplied with these greens for some
days.
In growing beets for table use it is not wise to endeavor to have them
as large as it is possible to grow them. Overgrown beets are usually
coarse, and lacking in flavor. A good beet is close and compact, fine
grained, free from fibre, and smooth. For winter use the writer is in
the habit of making a second sowing of the Early Blood Turnip-Beet about
the end of June; these will keep sweet and good until June, if stored in
a cold cellar—if kept in a warm cellar they lose their freshness and
flavor.
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