FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 



round each other. Those taken out may be transplanted^ 

 yet they will make but short roots. Beets should be kept 

 clear of weeds, till the leaves covering the ground prevent 

 their further growth. 



The roots should be dug up before any severe frosts; 

 none of the fibrous roots should be taken away; nor should 

 the tops be cut close. In this situation they should be boil- 

 ed, to prevent any loss of their juice. In Winter, they are 

 best kept in sand ; and they should not be suffered to freeze, 

 as this makes them tough and unfit fot use. 



Sugar is made from this root, and for this purpose the 

 white beet is prtfered. They are washed, and boiled soft; 

 when the juice is pressed out, by a screw-press, and then 

 boiled down to a consistence proper for graining: It is 

 then poured out into flat pans, made for the purpose, and 

 gently stired while it is cooling. In order to render it 

 more dry, and white, it is put into the screw- press, and 

 there severely pressed ; by which operation the molasses is 

 forced out, leaving the remainder almost as white as lump- 

 sugar. The molasses may be again boiled down and con- 

 verted into sugar, as before, or it may be kept for use. 



We mention this use of the beet here, from a belief that 

 either it, or the pumpkin, may afford the cheapest sugar to 

 all those who are soon to inhabit the vast praires of the 

 West, which form nearly half of our territory; where the 

 sugar-maple abounds but little, and where much of the soil 

 is admirably calculated for the culture of this root. It is 

 almost useless to say, that it will ufibrd ardent spirits as 

 readily as it will sugar. 



See further, MANGEL WURTZEL. Probably this may be 

 found best adapted for the purpose of making sugar. 



BOG-MEADOWS. Where these are not a turf, but 

 a mere loose black dirt, and can be well drained, having 

 then a sufficient depth, they make valuable lands, particu- 

 larly for the purpose of raising hemp. The drier this land 

 can be laid the better. When this earth is carted out 

 upon upland, it is found a good manure ; and upland, parti- 

 cularly gravel and sand, when carted into bog-meadows, is 

 almost equally beneficial. Prodigious great crops of herds- 

 grass have been raised on them, when thus manured with 

 upland earth : And if this be so beneficial for grass, why 

 not equally so wiih hemp ? It would seem, that not only 

 grass and hemp, but many other productions, such as Indian 

 corn, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, 

 and perhaps almost every grain but wheat, might be culti- 

 vated to great advantage on well drained boglands, where 

 they had been previously well manured with upland earths. 

 The Indian com? however^ must be such as has been long 



