ROOT CROPS 283 



spring. The seed-bed must be made fine, which usually requires 

 five or six harrowings with disk and spike tooth harrows. Stable 

 manure at the rate of ten loads per acre should be applied pre- 

 vious to plowing in the fall and 200 pounds of acid phosphate 

 and 50 pounds of nitrate of soda may be applied in the spring 

 previous to the last two harrowings. This fertilizer stimulates 

 the young plants. Where beets are grown for purposes of 

 manufacture it is considered expedient to apply the fertilizer to 

 the preceding crop. The great difficulty in the culture of beets is 

 their slow growth while young, allowing weeds to get a start 

 and making it difficult to maintain clean culture. For this rea- 

 son it is advisable to give the plants just after thinning an ap- 

 plication of 50 pounds of nitrate of soda to which 50 pounds of 

 acid phosphate may be added to give it bulk and aid in distri- 

 bution. Apply, when leaves are dry, close to the plants and fol- 

 low with cultivator. 



354. Seeding. What is sold in commerce as beet seed is 

 the fruit called the capsule or "bolt," which contains from one to 

 five, usually two to three, seeds. The number of capsules varies 

 from 18,000 to 36,000 per pound. One hundred bolts should pro- 

 duce from 150 to 175 plants. The Michigan Station found no 

 difference in the vitality of sugar beet seed, I, 2, 3, and 4 years 

 old. A good stand of mangel-wurzel plants is from 25 to 30 

 thousand per acre, of sugar beets somewhat more. From six 

 to eight pounds of good mangel-wurzel seed are required per 

 acre. Since an even stand is one of the most important con- 

 siderations in obtaining a maximum yield, it is common in the 

 case of sugar beets to sow 18 to 20 pounds of seed per acre, 

 although obviously this would be a great excess in case all the 

 seeds should germinate. 



At the Cornell University farm three-fourths inch was found 

 ample depth for seed and one and a half inches too deep. In 

 dry climates, planting one and a half inches deep will probably 

 be found advisable in order to insure sufficient moisture for ger- 



