86 BEET-ROOT SUGAR AND 



The latter is the larger, more productive, and tht: 

 better keeper ; but the former is the more sugary. It 

 is, however, very difficult to preserve the varieties in 

 a pure state, much of the seed usually sown contain- 

 ing, in some degree, a mixture of both. 



" It is cultivated, in all respects, as the long red 

 mangel-wurzel, and the yield, per acre, varies from 

 twenty to thirty tons." {Burr.} 



Mauny de Mornay says, " The white Silesian beet 

 is generally considered the best for the sugar manu- 

 facturer : it grows beneath the surface, has a small 

 green neck, the stalks of the leaves are greenish- 

 white ; it yields less juice, but of a richer quality, than 

 most other kinds ; it contains salts in smaller propor- 

 tions, keeps well, and resists frost better than others. 

 It has the preference over all others with the manu- 

 facturers of sugar." 



CHARACTERISTICS OF BEETS FOR SUGAR-MAKING. 



For the use of sugar manufacturers the kind of beet 

 that can be cultivated with most advantage is that 

 which is richest in sugar, and contains the smallest 

 amount of alkaline salts. It is distinguished by the 

 following characteristics : 



First. Its root must have neither the form of a car- 

 rot, nor of a tuber, but be shaped more like a Bartlett 

 pear. It must be long and slender, gradually tapering, 

 and free from large lateral roots. 



Second. It must not grow above the surface of the 

 soil. 



Third. It must have a smooth white surface, and 

 the flesh be white and hard. 



