368 
than the water which it displaces, while a piece of the root cut from the 
lower end of the bulb will require many grains to balance it, and thus 
show that the lower end of the root is far richer and of greater specific 
gravity than the upper. 
Professor Voelcker, of England, gives the following as the relative 
specific gravity or weight of the root, and its consequent richness, when 
the root is divided and tried in different parts or sections. For example, 
a beet-root, grown in Berkshire, England, being divided into six por- 
tions, and analyzed, 1, the top, next the leaves, contained 54 per cent. of 
sugar; 2, the next, 74 per cent.; 3, the next, 83 per cent.; 4, the next, 
104 per cent.; 5, the next, 102 per cent.; 6, the next, 11. 06 per cent. 
In a beet-root from Surrey, England, cut in four divisions: Top, 1st, 
6 per cent.; 2d, 84 per cent.; 3d, 82 per cent.; 4th, 94 per cent. An- 
other turnip-shaped beet contained: Top, 44 per cent.; bottom, 8.05 per 
cent. 
A great deal has been said and much mystification made about the 
possibility of growing roots which contain a greater proportion of salts 
than of sugar. Doubtless there is considerable truth in this; but of 
one fact we may be certain, and it is a practical fact: “That all beet- 
roots produced in good old Jand, which has been manured the previous 
year, will produce the maximum of sugar which the kind of root will 
produce; and that the production of salts will not be to a greater extent 
than is natural and necessary for the perfecting of the root for its pres- 
ent yield of sugar and its future production of seed.” 
The practical grower of beets may, therefore, banish all these specu- 
lative ideas, and proceed on the axiom that ‘ The better the land, (pro- 
vided it is old land.) and the better it is manured, the more sugar will 
follow to the acre; whilst on poor, sandy soil, and on mucky or peaty 
land, although the roots may be large, and the crop per acre heavy, yet 
he may expect that his yield per acre of sugar will be far less.” 
A rich clay, a clay loam, or even a rich sandy loam, well fallowed the 
previous year, and well manured, (also the previous fall,) will also pro- 
duce the maximum of sugar, and, bearing this fact in mind, no one will 
be so silly as to sow his beet on any other kind of soil. If he does, he 
will meet with disappointment. 
Of the various kinds of absolutely white beet the “ Silesian White” 
Sugar seems to be the best and the hardiest. The root groWs almost 
entirely under the ground, and thus does away with the necessity of 
earthing up, a process, however, which should always be practiced 
where possible. In all cases it may be taken as a general rule, that the 
sugar-bearing roots should be earthed up with the plow or cultivator 
as often as the roots force themselves considerably above the soil. All 
the Silesian beets have colored skins above ground. 
Any person going into the raising of sugar-beets should get as many 
kinds as possible; try them all; keep a record of the results, and then 
cultivate that kind which he finds most suitable to his own farm. In 
doing this he can never go wrong; every farm varies from others in 
some respects; no person can be expected to know beforehand the kind 
that is most suitable for his land, and nothing but actual trial and ex- 
perience can be perfectly depended on. 
Hardiness against the effects of frost is a most important point, and 
the prudent beet-producer will be especially careful to select those 
kinds which are least sensible to frost. Actual experience is the only 
guide to be depended on. 
The second great point is the reduction of the root to such a state 
