CULTIVATION OF THE BEET. 1 15 



so well should be put in another ; those which are at 

 all injured or bruised, if they cannot be used at once 

 at the mill, should be put into a third ; and so on, tak- 

 ing care to remember the character of the contents 

 of each pile, so that those least likely to keep may be 

 first delivered. This has already been referred to on 

 page 107, but is of so great importance that I again 

 allude to it. 



PRESERVATION IN PILES. 



Beets may be preserved in piles upon the surface 

 of the ground in precisely the same manner as has 

 been described above for their preservation in pits, 

 with this exception, that the depth of beets should not 

 exceed five or six feet. In both cases a shallow ditch 

 should surround the pile and silo or pit for the purpose 

 of drainage. In some cases a layer of beets a foot 

 thick is covered with two inches of earth, and then 

 another layer of beets, and so on until the pile is com- 

 pleted : this is a good but expensive process. In all 

 cases the piles should be repeatedly examined, and all 

 cracks and chinks in the covering of earth repaired at 

 once. 



VENTILATION OF BEETS. 



Some persons consider it of the first importance 

 to ventilate beets, both those in piles and in pits ; 

 but I have seen such vast quantities kept in fine 

 condition until the i5th of February, stored with- 

 out ventilation, in the comparatively warm climate 

 of France, that I doubt its necessity. When ventila- 

 tion is practised, it is sometimes effected by placing 

 in the centre of the pile, at distances of twelve to fifteen 



