The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 5

LONG SURREY.

Long Red. James's Scarlet.

This variety much resembles the Long Orange: the roots, however, are more slender, the heart is smaller, and the color deeper.

"It is popular in some parts of England, and is extensively grown over the Continent."

LONG WHITE.

Common White.

Root produced entirely below ground, regularly fusiform, fifteen inches long, by about three inches in its largest diameter. Skin white, stained with russet-brown. Flesh white, and generally considered sweeter than that of the colored varieties.

The Common White has been but little cultivated since the introduction of the White Belgian; a variety much more productive, though perhaps not superior either in flavor, or fineness of texture.

NEW INTERMEDIATE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: New Intermediate.]

An English variety, comparatively of recent introduction. Root broadest at the crown, and thence tapering very regularly to a point. Size full medium; well-grown specimens measuring nearly three inches in diameter at the broadest part, and about one foot in length. Skin bright orange-red. Flesh orange-yellow, fine-grained, sweet, well flavored, and, while young, excellent for table use.

Very hardy, and also very productive; yielding, according to the best English authority, a greater weight per acre than any other yellow-fleshed variety.

PURPLE OR BLOOD RED.

Violette. _Vil._

Root fusiform, and very slender, fourteen inches in length, by two inches and a half in diameter at the top or broadest part. Skin deep purple, varying to some extent in depth of shade, but generally very dark. Flesh purple at the outer part of the root, and yellow at the centre or heart; fine grained, sugary, and comparatively well flavored.

Not much cultivated for the table, on account of the brown color it imparts to soups or other dishes of which it may be an ingredient. It is also inclined to run to seed the year it is sown. It has, however, the reputation of flouris.h.i.+ng better in wet, heavy soil, than any other variety.

SHORT WHITE.

Blanche des Vosges. _Vil._

Root obtusely conical, seven or eight inches long, by about four inches in diameter at the crown, which is large, flat, greenish, and level with the surface of the ground. Skin white, tinted with amber, smooth and fine. Flesh yellowish-white, remarkably solid, and fine in texture; sweet and well flavored. Foliage rather finely divided, and as vigorous as the Long Orange.

The Short White yields well, retains its qualities during winter, and is well adapted for cultivation in soils that are hard and shallow.

STUDLEY.

Long Red Brunswick.

Root fusiform, very long, and regular; the crown level with the surface of the soil. In good cultivation, the roots attain a length of sixteen inches, and a diameter of nearly two inches. Color bright reddish-orange, like the Altrincham.

An excellent table-carrot, but flourishes well only in deep, mellow soil.

WHITE BELGIAN.

Green-top White.

Root very long, fusiform, eighteen to twenty inches in length, and four or five inches in diameter. In the genuine variety, the crown rises five or six inches from the surface of the ground; and, with the exception of a slight contraction towards the top, the full diameter is retained for nearly one-half of the entire length. Skin green above, white below ground. Flesh white, tending to citron-yellow at the centre or heart of the root; somewhat coa.r.s.e in texture. Foliage rather large and vigorous.

The White Belgian Carrot is remarkable for its productiveness, surpa.s.sing in this respect all other varieties, and exceeding that of the Long Orange by nearly one-fourth. It can be harvested with great facility, and gives a good return even on poor soils.

The variety is not considered of any value as a table esculent, and is grown almost exclusively for feeding stock; for which purpose, it is, however, esteemed less valuable than the yellow-fleshed sorts, because less nutritious, and more liable to decay during winter.

Since its introduction, it has somewhat deteriorated; and, as now grown, differs to some extent from the description given above. The roots are smaller, seldom rise more than two or three inches above the soil, and taper directly from the crown to the point. A judicious selection of roots for seed, continued for a few seasons, would undoubtedly restore the variety to its primitive form and dimensions.

The same amount of seed will be required as of the Long Orange: and the general method of culture should be the same; with the exception, that, in thinning out the plants, the White Belgian should have more s.p.a.ce.

WHITE BELGIAN HORN.

Transparent White. _Vil._

Root seven or eight inches in length, and two inches in its greatest diameter, tapering regularly from the crown to the point. Skin fine, clear white. Flesh very white, and almost transparent, mild, tender, and delicate.

A French variety, remarkable for the peculiar, pure white color of its skin and flesh.

TURNIP-ROOTED CHERVIL.

PARSNIP CHERVIL.

Chaerophyllum bulbosum.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Turnip-rooted Chervil.]

A hardy, biennial plant, from the south of Europe. The root is fusiform, four or five inches long, and nearly an inch and a half in diameter; skin, grayish-black; flesh, white. The leaves are compound, the leaflets very deeply cut, and the divisions of the upper leaves very narrow and slender. The flowers are white, and terminate the top of the plant in umbels, or large, circular, flat, spreading bunches. The seeds are long, pointed, furrowed, concave on one side, of a brownish color, and retain their power of germination but one year. An ounce contains sixty-five hundred seeds.

_Soil and Cultivation._--The seeds may be sown in drills, in October or April, in the manner of sowing the seeds of the common carrot: preference to be given to rich, mellow soil. The roots will attain their full size by the following August or September, when they should be harvested. With a little care to prevent sprouting, they may be preserved until April.

_Seed._--The roots intended for seed should be set in the open ground in autumn or in spring. The seeds will ripen in August, and should be sown within a month or two of the time of ripening; or, if kept till spring, should be packed in earth or sand: for, when these precautions are neglected, they will often remain dormant in the ground throughout the year.

_Use._--The Tuberous-rooted Chervil promises to be a valuable esculent root. M. Vilmorin considered it worthy to be cla.s.sed with the potato, though not equally productive. On his authority, upwards of six tons have been produced on an acre; an amount which he states may be greatly increased by a judicious selection of the best roots for seed.

The roots, which are eaten boiled, are of a gray color, and nearly of the size and form of an Early Horn Carrot. The flesh is white, farinaceous, and of a flavor intermediate between that of a chestnut and a potato.