CULTURE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 95 



CHAPTEE V. 



CULTURE, CHOICE OF SOIL, ITS PREPARATION. PLANTING, CARE OF, 

 HARVESTING AND PRESERVING CROP. 



CULTURE. 



The cultural conditions to be regarded as of greatest importance in 

 securing crops of maximum quantity and quality, when a section has 

 been determined upon by a consideration of all other conditions, are 

 choice of soil, &c, its physical character and chemical composition, and 

 the methods by which these may be modified or improved ; the first by 

 the mechanical methods of culture, and the second by the proper and 

 judicious applications of fertilizers. After this will naturally follow the 

 modes of planting and the care to be applied during the season of 

 growth. 



With reference to the choice of soil suited to the culture of the beet- 

 root, opinions seem to differ somewhat, though the principles which ap- 

 pear to govern them tend to the same end. The illustrious Chaptal,* as 

 a result of his study of the plant and its requirements, arrived at the 

 following conclusions : 



Soils which are dry, calcareous, light, &c, are not well suited to the beet. 



Strong clay soils have little aptitude for the culture of this root. 



In order that the root may prosper, it needs, in general, a mellow, fertile soil, the 

 arable stratum of which should be 12 to 15 inches thick. 



The root succeeds more or less well in all arable soils, but the products vary wonder- 

 fully according to the nature of the soils. 



Basset t considers that "a fresh soil, rather sandy or silico-calcareous 

 than too calcareous or argillaceous, rich in humus, and deep,'' should be 

 chosen. Briem,i in his late work on beet-root culture and sugar manufac- 

 ture, says, of the physical character of the soil to be chosen, "it should not 

 be too light nor too moist 5 it should be bare; its subsoil permeable; it 

 should be warm, free from stones, calcareous, and should contain humus." 

 Deherain,§ from the results of his experiments and investigations at Grig- 

 nou, publishes as one of the conclusions arrived at that the nature of the 

 soil does not seem to exercise any sensible action upon the development 

 df the beet, for the same results were obtained in soils consisting of pure 

 silica, of calcareous matter, or of a mixture of calcareous matter and 

 clay. 



Vivien || found in traveling through the provinces of the Bhine, Han- 

 over, Brandenburg, and Saxony in Germany, that, though in each sec- 

 tion there is a wide difference in the nature of the soil, there is a par- 

 ticularly marked homogeneity in the character of the beets. 



•Quoted by Basset in Guide Pratique du Faineant de Sucre. 



t Ibid. 



t See Critique in Journal des Fabricants de Sucre, 1879. 



§ Annales Jgronomiques. 



|| Journal des Fabricants de Sucre, 1S76, *7 March. 



