SPECIAL CKOPS. 251 



Silesian seems to uuite the necessary qualities for the best sugar 

 beet, which are a pear-shaped root, growing wholly beneath the 

 surface of the soil when it has room to extend itself; a smooth 

 surface, free from lateral roots ; a firm flesh, and medium size. 

 The beets for seed should be chosen before they are piled or put 

 in the pits. The most perfect specimens should be selected. 

 Those grown in very rich soil are not as good for seed as those 

 grown in a medium soil. iSTo beets should be selected any por- 

 tion of which has grown above ground, nor any with a double 

 or imperfect crown. Cut off the leaves within about an inch 

 of the crown, and also the extreme end of the tap root. Dig a 

 trench, as before described, and la}- tlie beets in carefully in 

 layers, covering each layer with just sufficient earth to separate 

 the beets. Form a conical pile three feet above the surface, and 

 cover with a few inches of earth, increasing the covering as 

 cold weather advances, to prevent freezing. All other roots 

 require ventilation ; and although it is claimed by Grant and 

 others that the sugar beet does not, we consider it safer to ven- 

 tilate all piles or pits. This can be done by setting tiles on the 

 top of the beets, at convenient distances, and stuffing them with 

 straw, as is recommended for all roots. As early in the spring 

 as the ground can be worked, set out the beets in a dry soil 

 that has been deeply plowed and heavily manured the previous 

 year. Set them in rows three feet apart, and two feet apart in 

 the rows, mixing a couple of handfuls of bone dust with the 

 soil when the beet is set. Set the crowns just below the sur- 

 face, and press the earth closely about them. An inch of earth, 

 and anotlier handful of bone dust on the crown of the plant, 

 completes the setting. The French cut three or four longitudi- 

 nal slits in the beet, commencing about an inch below the crown. 

 We have no doubt that these cuts assist the plant, enabling it 

 to throw out more and stronger roots, and consequently pro- 



