98 BEET-ROOT SUGAR AND 



The amount of seed required for an acre varies, of 

 course, in accordance with the number of rows and 

 the perfection of the seed-sower. It is certainly best 

 to sow enough, for in seed-sowing apparent prodi- 

 gality is often the truest economy, it being less costly 

 to pull out superabundant plants than to sow a second 

 time. 



The farmer should bear in mind that the plants 

 must finally stand from twelve to fourteen inches apart 

 in the row. Knowing this, and the capacity of his 

 machine, he can arrive at a pretty correct estimate of 

 the amount of seed required. 



In France the farmers employ from nine to thirteen 

 pounds on an acre. 



Too much pains cannot be taken to have the lines 

 perfectly straight, and each passage of the machine 

 over the field exactly parallel to the preceding one. 

 u Marking," before the passage of the seed-sower, 

 should be done w T ith the very greatest care and exact- 

 ness. This is of the utmost importance in every sub- 

 sequent stage of cultivation, and cannot be too strongly 

 urged. For economical cultivation it is indispensa- 

 ble. This is attained in Europe, and the lines are per- 

 fect miracles of straightness. 



A strip of land sufficiently wide for the various ma- 

 chines and their teams to turn on should be left at each 

 end of the field. In this country, where land is cheap, 



per acre than if planted at a distance of eighteen inches ; they will 

 also be from half to one per cent, richer in sugar. But the lesser 

 distance is not so well adapted to cheap culture, and the usual 

 method is to have the rows sixteen to eighteen inches apart, and 

 the plants twelve to fourteen inches apart in the rows. 



