CROPS. 83 



dance of water is procurable, there the cabbage, as well as 

 the cauliflower, is extensively cultivated not only for home 

 consumption but for shipment abroad to distant coun- 

 tries. This is the case in Belgium, and in the neighbor- 

 hood of Erfurt, (Germany, ) where both of these crops are 

 cultivated with success and profit, unequaled elsewhere. 

 There the method of culture is to choose a low spot of 

 ground and divide it into beds of convenient shape, which 

 are separated by permanent furrows, in which the water 

 flows. The water is sometimes dipped from these fur- 

 rows by long-handled scoops and poured around the roots 

 of the plants. Otherwise the water is flowed on to the 

 crops by means of small furrows between slightly raised 

 ridges upon which the plants are grown. 



Beets. This crop is peculiarly suited to culture by irri- 

 gation. Few crops thrive so well under the combined in- 

 fluence of abundant moisture and a continued high tem- 

 perature. The sugar beet, especially, enjoys these con- 

 ditions when planted in deep, well-drained soil, and crops 

 equal to from 60 to 75 tons of roots per acre are frequent- 

 ly grown in the sugar manufacturing districts of central 

 and southern France. A specially noteworthy case was 

 cited in the Journal d> Agriculture by M. Barral, in which 

 a manufacturer of beet sugar at Masny, directed the flow 

 of water from the water wheels, which furnished the 

 power for the factory, on to the field of beets. The water 

 was charged with all the refuse of the works, the wash- 

 ings of the roots and of the impure bone-black, as well 

 as that of the sacks in which the pulp had been pressed, 

 the skimmings of evaporating pans, and also the washings 

 of the outhouses used by the workmen ; and carried all 

 this matter in suspension through the channels and dis- 

 tributing furrows to the growing crops. No other fertil- 

 izer has been used during 8 years, and the value to the 

 farm is estimated at a yearly sum of $2,000. This 

 example, however, relates to field culture, but is yet 



