CULTIVATION OF THE BEET. 87 



Fourth. Its size must not be too large, and its 

 weight not exceeding five to eight pounds. 



The white Silesian beet, which is the one in general 

 cultivation for manufacturers, unites most of these 

 qualities ; and of other kinds those are most preferred 

 whose foliage is not upright, but broad-spreading and 

 lying upon the surface of the ground. The roots of 

 beets possessing this peculiarity grow entirely beneath 

 the surface. 



The beet, as a sugar-producing plant, is for the tem- 

 perate latitudes what the cane is for the tropics ; but be- 

 sides its saccharine properties, it possesses others which 

 render it even a greater acquisition to the human race 

 than the cane. 



It flourishes in almost any good soil ; few plants are 

 more hardy and tenacious of life, or have a wider 

 range of cultivation. 



It succeeds well in every country of Europe, from 

 Italy to Norway, and from Spain to Russia. 



In the United States it has been successfully culti- 

 vated in most of the states from Missouri to Maine, 

 and would doubtless thrive in all. It is, however, a 

 remarkable fact, that while the cane increases in saccha- 

 rine richness as it approaches the equator, the reverse 

 is the case with the beet, which up to a certain degree, 

 north or south, secretes more sugar as it approaches 

 the poles. 



The northern limit of the successful culture of sugar 

 beet on this continent is probably to be found at about 

 latitude 50 to 52, which is in Canada. In Europe it 

 is successfully cultivated as far north as 60. 



