386 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



SOWING THE SEED, AND TREATMENT OF THE SUGAR-BEET. 



The seed is sown by hand or by machine : theoretically 

 from two to three pounds would be necessary for one acre ; 

 but in practice from fifteen to sixteen pounds are used. The 

 seeds, after being soaked in water, if to be sown by hand, are 

 placed usually at a distance of fourteen inches apart ; if 

 sown by machine (of Garret's patent), they are dropped 

 about eight inches apart in rows about twenty inches apart ; 

 which allows one horse with implement to pass between. In 

 the latter case from twenty-eight thousand five hundred to 

 thirty thousand plants could be raised upon one acre. A 

 larger space around each plant favors an excessive enlarge- 

 ment of the roots, — a result not at all desirable, for large 

 beets are usually watery. 



Early planting is most desirable : it ought to be carried 

 on as soon as the implements can pass over the ground with- 

 out injuring the mechanical condition of the soil. In our 

 section of the country, the fore part of May is best for 

 planting. 



A beet-root from one to one and one-half pounds is far 

 better than one from two to three pounds. Every common 

 beet-seed, containing by its natural construction from two 

 to three germs, will produce as many plants, of which the 

 strongest is left, whilst the rest are pulled up, or otherwise 

 destroyed in due time. The process of thinning out the 

 plants takes place as soon as the roots have reached a length 

 of from three to four inches, and, if possible, shortly after a 

 rain, to prevent the loosening of the soil around the speci- 

 men left. Transplanting sugar-beet plants from a separate 

 bed to the lands for final cultivation is rarely resorted to : 

 it is only recommended to fill out the gaps produced by the 

 failure of seeds. Whenever this failure acquires any con- 

 siderable proportion in the beet-fields, a re-seeding is pre- 

 ferred, provided the season has not too far advanced. The 

 soil around the young plant should be frequently loosened 

 by proper implements (every two or three weeks), and the 

 roots kept carefully covered until the leaves have acquired 

 their proper development, early in June. Such treatment 

 destroys the weeds, and increases the hygroscopic and gen- 

 eral absorptive properties of the soil, and thus highly favors 



