154 MAEKET GARDENING. 



ing, and is one of the varieties cultivated abroad for 

 sugar. Heretofore the great effort has been to obtain 

 the largest bnlk of root food from a given area, and 

 where a primary object is to supply merely succulent 

 food as distinct from dry, there is great gain in quantity. 

 Recent chemical analysis has demonstrated that the per- 

 centage of saccharine in the large roots falls below that 

 of the smaller, and, where the primary object is sugar, 

 cultivators no longer aim at large roots, but rather those 

 of medium size, well matured ; hence, it follows that in 

 feeding for flesh or for butter, the smaller roots, in j^ro- 

 portion to the weight fed, will accomplish greater results. 

 The beet owes its fattening influences principally to the 

 saccharine matter contained in it. This varies accord- 

 ing to variety, manure, soil and climatic influences. 

 The production in Germany averages one ton of sugar 

 to each eleven or twelve tons of roots. When fed to 

 animals, the entire proportion of sugar is realized, and 

 produces w^onderful results. 



Imperial Sugar Beet. — This, it is claimed, is the 

 most profitable of the sugar varieties, being richer in 

 saccharine qualities than the preceding. It has a smooth 

 skin, and shows the results of careful selection and 

 breeding. 



Mai^gel Wurzel. 



There are several sub-varieties of the Long Mangel, 

 known as the Mammoth Long Red, Long Yellow, Long 

 Oxhorn, Long White Green Topped ; but the writer will 

 here confine his remarks to the first, inasmuch as it 

 embraces all the good qualities of others, and there can 

 be no advantage in dividing attention between it and 

 other sorts of similar shape and properties. The one 

 referred to has long been cultivated as the mangel 

 wurzel par excellence. In England, eighty tons have 

 frequently grown to the acre ; in this country, thirty 

 tons may be considered a good crop. 



