FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 205 



form of the Ridges after spitting and rolling* 

 A A A A 



Tops, A A A A, nine inches broad, in the middle of which 



the seed is deposited. 

 Situation of the manure, B B B B. 



It will not be supposed, by any intelligent Farmer, that, 

 where the quantity of the improved beetroot given daily to 

 a Bullock is stated, it is meant that it should be given with- 

 out dry food. It may, however, be necessary to say, that 

 the same dry food must be given with the beet as is usually 

 given with turnips. Mr. Heaton last year gave oat-straw 

 only, and the Bullocks did well upon that food, and were 

 sold to profit. No doubt they would have been ready for 

 the Butcher sooner, had good hay been given to them : But 

 this fact may be relied upon, that fresh Bullocks, fed upon 

 the beetroot and oat-straw, will) in three months time, get 

 fat enough for the Butcher. 



It may also be necessary to observe, that not a word, here 

 stated, is intended to apply to such light turnip-soils as will 

 bear the trampling of Sheep, without injury to the land. 

 Mr, Heaton has none upon his farm; and I have not suffi- 

 cient knowledge of the management of turnip-land, of that 

 description, to say, whether prudence would warrant any 

 trial of the beetroot, upon a large scale, on such soil, to be 

 eaten on the land. 



Where a field, selected for a crop of beet, happens to be 

 in a foul state, the seed had better be sown in a garden, 

 and the whole field planted with the young beet, when of 

 the size of a radish. This will give time for cleaning the 

 ground, and filing it for a crop ; for, although the beets are 

 destroyers of weeds, it is not meant to recommend sowing 

 them on foul ground, or in any way to encourage a slovenly 

 system ot farming. 



Although manure has been used in the cultivation of this 

 root, it is not absolutely necessary ; and, if not in a roten 

 state, it does mischief. Good crops have been obtained at 

 Bedtords, without manure^ and without injury to the suc- 

 ceeding crops of corn. Beet is fed from a depth considera- 

 bly below the reach of the plough, as generally used; so 

 that it does not draw the surface-soil in which corn is 

 fed. 



The method of cultivating the beetroot, here recom- 

 mended, is the same as that which is used in the cultivation 



