BEETS. 365 



culture. Beets are one of the cheapest, most productive, and nutritious roots that can be 

 raised for cattle, sheep, and swine, and are especially valuable as food for milch-cows, and 

 breeding-ewes. 



Varieties. There are so many varieties of the beet, some of which are of a local 

 character, that it is almost useless to attempt to enumerate them. The following, however, 

 are some of the most popular among the leading varieties generally cultivated. The Early 

 Bassano, originally from Italy, is one of the earliest varieties known. The root is flat and 

 light red in color, the flesh being white, encircled with rose color. It is tender and juicy. When 

 designed for winter use, it should be sown late, as early -grown varieties will not keep through 

 the winter. Other standard varieties are Bastian s Extra Early Red, Bastian s Half-long 

 Blood Beet, the Egyptian Blood Turnip, Early Blood Turnip, Early Yellow Turnip, or 

 Orange, Long Blood Red, Lamb s Improved Imperial Sugar, and the French Sugar-Beet. 

 The last two mentioned are especially valuable as containing a larger percentage of sugar 

 than the ordinary varieties, and may be used for table purposes, feeding stock, or sugar man 

 ufacture. The French variety is cultivated extensively in France for the latter purpose. 

 The Swiss Chard, sometimes called &quot;Sea-Kale Beet,&quot; is cultivated for its leaves, which are 

 used as spinach. 



Cultivation. A fair crop of beets may be grown from a variety of soils; very fine 

 yields being generally obtained from one of a rich, strong, and partially clayey nature, but 

 that upon which it thrives best, and which is most suited to its successful culture, is a rich 

 but rather light loam, which has been well manured the previous season. 



Where this cannot be had conveniently, manure that has been thoroughly composted may 

 be used, as fresh yard-manure injures the quality of the crop and causes the roots to grow 

 tough and forked, while smooth, straight and medium-sized roots are the most desirable. Unless 

 well-fermented farm manure can be had for the purpose, guano may be successfully used 

 instead; bone-dust or superphosphate will also answer the same purpose. Some farmers 

 apply a light dressing of guano after the plants are up, in addition to previous application of 

 fertilizers to the land. 



The soil should always be well pulverized for this crop, and is best rendered so by a fall 

 plowing, to be followed by another plowing and harrowing in the spring; the manure to be 

 well harrowed in. For an early crop, the seed should be sown as soon as the ground can be 

 worked in the spring; but for winter use, the sowing should be delayed until June or the 

 early part of July. The sowing should be in drills from fifteen to eighteen inches apart, and 

 covered about an inch deep with friable soil. A dry day is best for this purpose, and if the 

 seed has been soaked in tepid water for twenty-four hours previous, it will germinate much 

 sooner. 



Sowing in a hot-bed or cold-frame, and transplanting, is sometimes resorted to by those 

 desiring an extra early small crop. An ounce of seed will sow a drill of one hundred feet 

 in length, and from four to five pounds is sufficient for an acre. When the plants are from 

 two to three inches in height, they should be thinned out from seven to nine inches apart with 

 a hoe, the same as turnips, taking care not to injure or cut the leaves of those left for growth, 

 leaving the plants in little tufts of two or three. When these have rallied from the thinning 

 process, another thinning should be given, leaving only one plant in a place. All vacant 

 spaces should also be filled by transplanting. The wheel-hoe, or a similar implement, should 

 be frequently used to keep down the weeds, and the surface be well stirred about the roots 

 of the young plants, which, when last thinned, should be from two to twelve inches apart. 

 Cultivation should be continued until the leaves nearly cover the ground. When the extra 

 long varieties are grown, the manure may be covered to a depth of four or five inches at the 

 second plowing, and the drills made a little farther apart than for the smaller kinds. In all 

 after-culture, care should be exercised to prevent breaking the leaves of the plants. 



