288 



CULTURE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 



A third parcel submitted to irrigation for ten years was watered in 1879 until the 

 time of harvesting. Samples of beets were also taken from the plain of Montrouge, 

 the soil of which had been manured with night-soil and belonged to the dairymen of 

 Paris. Here beets were irregularly planted. 



The first series of analyses made August 8, 1879, gave the following results : 



"Weight of 

 root. 



Sugar, per 

 cent, of 

 juice. 



Total sugar, 

 grams. 



Montrouge : 



Champ Hebert 



Champ Auvray 



Asnifires : 



Plot I, not watered 

 Plot II, 7 waterings 



0.342 

 0.460 



0.508 

 1.035 



7.27 

 6.67 



5.30 

 6.59 



24.8 

 30.7 



31.7 

 68.2 



The second series of analyses, made August 28, 1879, gave very different results : 



Asni&res : 



Plot I, not watered. . . 

 Plot II, 12 waterings . 



"Weight of 

 root. 



1.056 

 1.562 



Sugar, per 

 cent, of 

 juice. 



3.68 

 4.53 



Total sugar, 

 grams. 



38.9 

 69.7 



After August 28, watering having been suspended on plot 2, the proportion of sugar 

 rose, between August 28 to October 3, from 4.53 to 6.59 ; and, according to the analyses 

 of M. Pagnoul, we should think that this increase is produced during the month of 

 September. On the contrary, the development of the beets seems to have been entirely 

 suspended after the close of the irrigation. In plot No. 3, where irrigation was carried 

 on until the end of the season, the roots continued to enlarge, and on October 5, 

 the time of harvesting, their total weight was estimated at 180,000 kilograms per 

 hectare. But the sugar increased much less rapidly, its proportion continued to 

 diminish and fell from 4.53, August 28, to 4.10, October 5. 



An excess of nitrogenous manure, with or without watering, though favorable to 

 the absolute weight of the crop intended for cattle food, is therefore unfavorable to 

 the industrial employment of the plant and may render it unfit for the extraction of 

 sugar. But its unfavorable action does not remain the same throughout the entire 

 period of vegetation. It is in the second half of the season that it is most marked. 

 In the first part, on the contrary, it is important that vegetation have the greatest 

 possible activity, since then it bears principally upon the leaf, and this latter should 

 be largely developed in order to most efficiently perform its functions. So animal 

 manures should be incorporated in the earth in the preceding fall ; chemical manures, 

 which are rapidly assimilated, may be applied shortly before or a little after sowing 

 or planting, but it is of no advantage to renew the application during the course of the 

 season. This is shown in the theory and verified by the experiments of MM. Ladureau, 

 Coren winder, Deherain, and others. The same is true for irrigation with sewage water 

 or even with pure water where this is possible. The first are useful and may be 

 abundant during the first months, but they should be very moderate during the later 

 ones if forage beets are not to be exclusively produced. 



We shall ultimately examine in a meteorological point of view the results of beet- 

 root culture during the past ten years. 



