Page:Circular, United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Botany.djvu/182

 consumption of this acceptable condiment and to increase the variety of culinary uses to which it is put, it being employed not alone in the raw state but as a prominent ingredient of boiled dressings for beef and mutton dishes.

The variety of horse-radish known in Germany and Austria as the "Maliner" or "Maliner Kren" is considered superior to any other. It is grown to perfection in Kuttenberg, a small village southwest of Kolin in Bohemia, whence large quantities are exported. It is distinguished by its unusually sharp penetrating taste, uniform shape, and excellent keeping qualities. The author is indebted to Mr. H. Schmidt of the Agricultural College in Leitmeritz, Bohemia, for kindly furnishing him with brief notes on the culture of this variety of horse-radish, as practiced at Kuttenberg.

A deep, loose, strong soil with plenty of moisture is best suited to the culture of horse-radish. In the autumn the soil is forked over to a depth of 2 or $2 1⁄2$ feet and well-rotted barnyard manure is thoroughly worked in to the depth of a foot or more. A narrow bed, 3 feet wide, is prepared and in late March or early April the horse-radish



cuttings are planted along both edges, alternating so that they are not opposite each other across the bed. The cuttings are 12 inches long and are set out 18 inches apart. Instead of being placed vertically in the ground they are planted in an obliquely horizontal position, with the upper, larger end covered by only three-quarters to 1 inch of earth, while the lower lies 3 or 4 inches deep. As a consequence of this slanting position, the new roots thrown out from the lower end of the cutting, striking vertically downward, make almost a right angle with the main stem, and it is these slender roots from which the new cuttings for the next season's planting are made.

During the summer the ground is kept free from weeds and the surface of the soil lightly stirred. Toward the end of June the bed is gone over carefully and each cutting uncovered separately and slightly raised out of the soil with the hand. Care is taken not to injure the perpendicular roots which have formed from its lower end. All small rootlets are rubbed off from the body of the root with a woolen cloth; those that are too large to be removed in this manner being cut close with a sharp knife. A small quantity of powdered