USEFUL PROJECTS. 



^103 



sowing the red beet. It may be 

 sown as early as you please in 

 spring, or even in autumn ; for the 

 first leaves which in most other 

 plants are very tender, are able to 

 stand the cold winds of spring. 

 No insect can hurt them; and 

 while the turnip, the turnip cab- 

 bage, the cabbage, &c. are de- 

 stroyed by the leaflice, thered beet 

 grows astonishingly ; and when in 

 autumn the leaves of those plants 

 are devoured by caterpillars, none 

 are seen on the red beet. 



The only enemies it has, that I 

 know of, are fowls; for these are 

 so fond of its leaves, as entirely to 

 lay waste the fields of it, to which 

 they can have access. Their ap- 

 petite for this plant, when they 

 once have discovered it in a field 

 or garden, is such, that it is almost 

 impossible to keep them out. They 

 should not be sown therefore in 

 gardens or fields too near houses, 

 as in this case the crop may be 

 looked upon as lost. 



The following is the method I 

 have adopted of cultivating it. 



I first select, if possible, a good 

 black monld, rather rich. If it be 

 mixed with a little sand, and pro- 

 rided it has not too much clay, it 

 is good for the beet, which always 

 requires a little moisture. It may 

 be cultivated indeed on light 

 ground, but not with equal suc- 

 cess. 



In autumn I lay on manure, in 

 the proportion of six two-horse 

 cart loads of dung or horned cat- 

 tle to a hundred and forty square 

 perches. This dung, I afterwards 

 bury at least six inches deep with 

 the plough : and then I give the 

 ground another ploughing in nar- 

 row furrows. 



As soon in the spring as the 



land cau be worked, I sow the 

 seed where the plants are to re- 

 main ; for experience has taught 

 me, that transplanting them is 

 injurious. They should not be 

 sown too thick : there should be 

 at least six inches distance between 

 the plants ; and it is often neces- 

 sary to pull up some in the thickest 

 places, for three or four plants 

 frequently spring from a single 

 seed. 



It is usual to cover the seed by 

 raking or harrowing ; but as from 

 their lightness they frequently lie 

 on' the surface and rot, it is better 

 to use the hoe, or the plough, 

 taking care not to bury them too 

 deep. In this way we may be cer- 

 tain of their germinating quickly, 

 if the soil be good. 



As soon as the plants have their 

 sixth leaf, they should be weeded, 

 and thinned out where too close. 

 A few weeks after they should be 

 hoed, but so as rather to draw the 

 earth from them than to heap it 

 round them. 



When the leaves begin to bend 

 down to the ground, the largest, at 

 the bottom of the plant, may be 

 gathered for the cattle : but they 

 must not be stripped too much, as 

 this would injure the root. Nor 

 should the leaves be plucked off 

 before they separate as it were of 

 themselves, inclining toward the 

 ground. 



If weeds appear again, or the 

 ground get hard and dry, they 

 should be hoed a second time. 

 Lastly, in the month of October 

 the roots should be taken up, and 

 laid in the places intended for 

 keeping them, first cutting off the 

 stalk close to the root, that they 

 raav not vegetate during the wrn- 

 ter." 



Some 



