BEETHOVEN 



660 



BEETHOVEN 



eral hours' boiling. They are then served hot, 

 with butter, or are pickled or used as a salad. 

 Beets have a high water percentage and a 

 correspondingly low food value, though the 

 starch and sugar which they contain make 

 them more valuable tha"n cabbage, for instance. 



During recent years renewed attention has 

 been given to cultivating and refining the 

 leafy tops of beets, and the excellent Swiss 

 chard has resulted. The coarse varieties of 

 beets, known as mangels, are extensively grown 

 as food for cattle. See CHARD. 



Sugar Beets. The most important use of 

 beets, however, is in the manufacture of sugar, 

 about three-fifths of all the sugar produced in 

 the world coming from this source. Germany, 

 Austria, Russia and France are the leading 

 countries in the industry, but the cultivation 

 of the sugar beet is rapidly spreading in the 

 United States. This beet closely resembles 

 the varieties ordinarily raised in gardens, ex- 

 cept that it is usually of light color; and it 

 thrives best in a cool temperate climate, hav- 

 ing a reasonable supply of moisture. It has 

 been successfully raised in California, Michi- 

 gan and Utah, but Colorado is the leading 

 state in its production; while in Canada, On- 

 tario far surpasses any other province. In the 

 United States the annual production is about 

 4,000,000 tons, valued at close to 20,000,000, and 

 in Canada about 148,000 tons, valued at $906,- 

 000. Practically all of this crop is made into 

 sugar, not more than one or two per cent be- 

 ing used as forage; and one ton of beets will 

 make about 240 pounds of sugar. See SUGAR, 

 subhead Beet Sugar. 



BEETHOVEN, ba' to ven, LUDWIG VON (1770- 

 1827), one of the most notable of German 

 musical com- 

 posers, and the 

 supreme master 

 of modern music 

 for the orchestra. 

 He was born at 

 Bonn, and re- 

 ceived his first 

 lessons in music 

 from his father, 

 a tenor singer, 

 who is said to 

 have beaten mu- 

 sic into the boy. 

 Under teachers BEETHOVEN 



of great name and ability he made rapid prog- 

 ress, and his talent was so marked that he was 

 sent in 1792 to Vienna to study under Hadyn. 



In or near that city the greater part of his life 

 was spent, and there he composed the works 

 that have given him immortal fame. He was a 

 great pianist as well as a great composer, win- 

 ning recognition for his playing ' before his 

 age fully appreciated his genius in musical 

 composition. The latter, indeed, was the re- 

 sult of long years of patient, careful study 

 and perseverance. 



The life of the great musician was not one 

 of the happiest. He had probably the great- 

 est misfortune to bear that can come to a 

 composer, the loss of hearing. Yet he bore 

 this affliction with admirable courage, and, 



BEETHOVEN'S BIRTHPLACE AT BONN 



though totally deaf before reaching middle 

 age, he continued to give to the world the 

 benefits of his genius. His compositions, be- 

 gun when he was eleven years of age, consist 

 of nine symphonies, a number of concertos, 

 sonatas for the piano and for the piano and 

 violin, the opera Fidelia, an oratorio, The 

 Mount of Olives, string quartettes, masses and 

 songs. With him the development of orches- 

 tra music reached its highest point; he also 

 surpassed any of his predecessors in giving 

 warmth and poetic color to the sonata and the 

 symphony. The latter form he brought al- 

 most to perfection, and his Fifth and Ninth 

 symphonies are among the most beautiful 

 works ever composed. His own statement, 

 "Music is the only spiritual entrance to a 

 higher world of knowledge," expressed the 

 high ideals he held of his art. 



