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BEET , a cultivated See also: form of the plant Beta vulgaris (natural See also: order Chenopodiaceae), which grows See also: wild on the coasts of See also: Europe, See also: North See also: Africa and See also: Asia as far as See also: India
.
It is a biennial, producing, like the See also: carrot, a thick, fleshy tap-See also: root during the first See also: year and a branched, leafy, flowering See also: stem in the following season
.
The small, See also: green See also: flowers are See also: borne in clusters
.
A considerable number of varieties are cultivated for use on account of their large fleshy roots, under the names of mangel-wurzel or mangold, See also: field-beet and garden-beet
.
The cultivation of beet in relation to the production of
See also: sugar, for which purpose certain varieties of beet stand next in importance to the sugar See also: cane, is dealt with under SUGAR
.
The garden-beet has been cultivated from very remote times as a salad plant, and for general use as a table See also: vegetable
.
The variety most generally grown has long, tapering, carrot-shaped roots, the " flesh " of which is of a See also: uniform deep red colour throughout, and the leaves brownish red
.
It is boiled and cut into slices for being eaten cold; and it is also prepared as a See also: pickle, as well as in various other forms
.
Beet is in much more See also: common use on the continent of Europe as a culinary vegetable than in See also: Great Britain, where it has, however, been cultivated for upwards of two centuries
.
The See also: white beet, Beta cicla, is cultivated for the leaves, which are used as
See also: spinach
.
The midribs and stalks of the leaves are also stewed and eaten as See also: sea-kale, under the name of Swiss chard
.
B. cicla is also largely used as a decorative plant for its large, handsome leaves, See also: blood red or variegated in colour
.
The beet prospers in a See also: rich deep See also: soil, well pulverized by the See also: spade
.
If manure is required, it should be deposited at the bottom of the See also: trench in preparing the ground
.
The seeds should be sown in drills f s ins. asunder, in See also: April or early in May, and the See also: plants are afterwards to be thinned to about 8 in. apart in the lines, but not more, as moderate-sized roots are preferable
.
The plants should grow on till the end of See also: October or later, when a portion should be taken up for use, and the rest laid in in a sheltered corner, and covered up from See also: frost
.
The roots must not be bruised and the leaves must be See also: twisted off—not closely cut, as they are then liable to bleed
.
In the north the crop may be wholly taken up in autumn, and stored in a pit or cellar, beyond reach of frost
.
If it is desired to have fresh roots early, the seeds should be sown at the end of See also: February or beginning of See also: March; and if a succession is required, a few more may be sown by the end of March
.
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[back] EDWARD SPENCER BEESLY (1831– ) |
[next] LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) |
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