FARMERS' REGISTER. 



93 



falling down of the leave?, and Ihope of a bright 

 green turning yellow and brown. The influence 

 of drou<Thi may bring on these appearances ; the 

 ol)serving litritier will understaml when this change 

 is caused by heat, or want ol' moisinre, indeed he 

 has to attend to the weather and the appearam-e 

 of the approach ol' winter that he may tnUe ad- 

 vantage ofall the growing season, ami at (he same 

 time not be too late in harvesting, and thereby ex- 

 pose the crop to be injured by frost. The roo^s 

 should be pulled by hand or assisted by the spade 

 when necessary, and the person that pulls them 

 must shake the earlh of them and be careful 

 not to strike one against another or in any way 

 bruise them; bruising has the same effect on 

 beets that it has on apples, in both cases it dis- 

 poses them to rot. The person who pulls the 

 beets should cut oH the tops with a knife, being 

 careful not to cut the beet. The leaves being cu! 

 off lessens the disposition of the root to veiretale, 

 and it prepares them to be housed. The beets 

 should lay on the ground until they are dry before 

 they are housed. 



Preservation. — The roots rnust not be left long 

 on the ground exposed to air, heat and moisture ; 

 much heat or cold are both lf)und detrimental, as 

 a heat of fifty-six to sixty degrees Fahrenheit, in 

 damp weather, will produce a lermentaiion suffi- 

 cient to reduce the quantity of saccharine maiter, 

 and on the other hand, beets freeze very readily, 

 so that only a few degrees below thirty-two vvill 

 dispose them to rot. 



The best aired cellar is not belter for socnrins 

 the beet than a judiciously made pit, wherein the 

 beets are slored and covered with the earlh that 

 was dug from the pit. The dimension of pits 

 maybe varied to suit circumstances. It is most 

 prudent not to make them large, because if from 

 any cause a part of the contenTs of a pit begins to 

 epoil, the disease is contagious and will spread 

 through the whole mass. They may be made 

 from four to five feet wide, and eight, ten or twelve 

 long. One to two feet is deep enough; this hole 

 is to be filled with beets, and piled up until they 

 form a ridge, and the whole is to be covered with 

 the earth dug from the pit, n drain should be cut 

 round the iieap, to carry off all water, it beinir of 

 importance, that the beet be kept dry, and lor this 

 reason, ground naturally dry should be selected 

 for the pits — perhaps in our severe climate it may 

 be necessary to spread a little siraw or corn stalks 

 on the outside of the heaps, to keep out frost ; if 

 put inside it might rot and spoil the beets, and it 

 may be useful to open the pits from time to time to 

 air and keep them Iresh, and if any are observed 

 to spoil, they should be carefull\' taken out. The 

 preserving of beets is the most difficult of all 

 the branches connected wiih them. 



Groivingof the seed. — As the beet is a biennial 

 plant it is only in the second year that it produces 

 seed. The proper time for choosing the roots liom 

 which the seed is to be produced next year is 

 when taking up the crop ; these should be healthy, 

 somewhat above the inedium size in lengtli and 

 thickness ; well formed and no ways forked, and ofi 

 a fine light color; (if for sugar perfectly white,) 

 they should be kept through winter in sand or dry 

 earth, and placed in a temperate barn or cellar 

 equally guarded from the influence of heat and 

 cold. In the neigliborhood of Philadelphia, they 

 should be planted out in March or so soon as I he 



land is in good order, and at the distance of two 

 or three feet apart; this will be sufficient space for 

 yielding the roots and leaves the requisite nourish- 

 ment ; the stalks will rise from three to five leet, 

 and the branches being liable to split oft, and break 

 down, have to be su|)poried by sticks or frames. 

 When the seed is ripe, which will generally be in 

 September, the said sialks are cut off, tied into 

 bundles, and hung up, or laid over fences to dry — 

 and then the seed is beaten off by switching the 

 slieaves over a board set on its edge, or it may be 

 thrashed. In France the seed is removed fi-om the 

 stems by hand, takmg care too leave the small 

 soeds that grow towards the outer end of the bran- 

 ches, as these seeds do not ripen well in that cli- 

 mate, which IS moister than that of the United 

 States. The next process is to expose the seed to 

 Ihe sun, and then ii is put into sai ks and kept in a 

 dry place, where mice and vermin shall not have ac- 

 cess to it. The average yield of plants in France 

 is from lour to six ounces of good seed. The beet 

 in this country has been found to produce very 

 good seed — it vvill therefore be prudent and a 

 saving for farmers to raise enough for their own 

 wants. And lor some time, in all probability, it 

 will be a profitable branch of business to raise some 

 lor sale. 



General remarks. — The imporlant uses to which 

 the beet is now applied, having attracted great at- 

 tention to its habits, it is Ibund under some'^circum- 

 stances to deaeneraie; the seed ol' the while plant 

 producing yellow and red roots; this tendency may 

 be checked by changing the seed from clay to 

 sandy, and from sandy to clay soils. Experience 

 may show that changes from the north to the 

 south, and from the south to the north, would 

 tie attended wilh good consequences. The seed, 

 if carefully preserved from moisture, insects, and 

 vermin, will keep lor several years, but after four 

 years it will not be prudent to sow it. VVhen the ob- 

 ject is to make sugar, care should be taken to have 

 seed that will produce white roots, and early sow- 

 ing will afford the opportunity of commenciiio- the 

 crushing and boiling at an early period. Fi^nch 

 wrilers on the subject inform us, that the early 

 bruisings produce Ihe largest proportion of suirar. 

 Some of their remarks on soil, it is difficult lor Ame- 

 ricans to understand, as in this country we have no 

 chalk soil. The louline of crops where the beet 

 is cultivated is very varied. Some French far- 

 mers plant potatoes the first year, beets the se- 

 cond, and clover the third— and repeal. Now 

 we do not understand how (dover can be made to 

 follow beets, or how it could grow when sown 

 amongst them, as it would be destroyed by Ihe 

 process of working the crop— but they may have 

 an annual clover we are not acquainted with. 

 Others sow beets two years in succession, oats the 

 third, clover the liDurih, and repeat. And one 

 man is mentioned, who has sown beets with suc- 

 cess, (or fifteen years in succession on the same 

 land; his practice was to change the nature and 

 kind of manure and dressinfj ptit on the land. 



In this counlry, as yet, there is nothing of strict 

 system in the rotation of crops. The important 

 article, Indian corn, grown all over the United 

 Slates, and tobacco and cotton, in particular dis- 

 tricts, renders it necessary (or us, lo adopt a sys- 

 tem suited to our circumstances and resources ; our 

 farmers have to exercise their own judfrment, and 

 select practices suiied to their particular positions. 



