122 BEET AND BEET-SUGAR. 



Buch perfection in France as made it profitable. The beet so gen- 

 erally cultivated at the present time is derived, according to Thaer, 

 from the Beta vulgaris. The two principal varieties of this root are 

 the red beet, which has been grown for a very long lime in kitchen 

 gardens, and the white beet. Between these two extremes there 

 are numerous varieties having a flesh color of various intensity, a 

 yellow tint, &c. The seeds of the same plant in fact frequently 

 produce varieties of decidedly different shades of color; the red and 

 the white beet, however, appear to be the most constant ; and Thaer has 

 said that the intermediate varieties are crosses between them. 



The field beet has a large root which grows in great part above 

 the ground ; it. is a very hardy plant, which has been cultivated for 

 a very long time in various parts of the continent as food for cattle, 

 and is now also very common in England. The root, which has 

 hitherto been preferred for the manufacture of su^ar, is conical, of a 

 rose color without, and its concentric external layers are also color- 

 ed ; but it appears that the white beet of Silesia is the more pro- 

 ductive. The beet thrives in almost all kinds of soil, provided only 

 they be sufficiently manured. In Alsace it succeeds in light, and in 

 strong argillaceous soils indifferently. Another precious quality which 

 this root possesses is that of succeeding in the most dissimilar cli- 

 mates ; it is grown to purpose both in the north and in the south of 

 France. 



The beet is sown at once in the field, or in a bed and transplanted ; 

 the latter method appears now to obtain a decided preference, inasmuch 

 as it leaves plenty of time for the preparation of the soil, and espe- 

 cially for accumulating and carrying out manure. 



In a piece of ground well broken up by driving or ploughing, and 

 highly manured, which need not be of greater extent than j'^th of 

 the entire surface to be planted, the seed is sown in lines or drilU 

 as soon as the spring frosts are no longer to be apprehended. The 

 transplanting in the east of France takes place about the middle of 

 May, and even in the beginning of June. The plants are generally 

 set about 15 inches apart. In the north the beet harvest does not 

 begin before the end of September, and generally ends in the course 

 of the month of October. The gathering is delayed as long as 

 possible, inasmuch as the roots increase visibly to the very end of 

 the season. But gathering the beet at a very late period in those 

 countries where the winter seed has to follow this crop, is attended 

 with more than one disadvantage. Without speaking of the ditTicul- 

 ties that are hicidental to wet seasons, a late seed-lime is generally 

 unfavorable for wheat. To meet this ditficulty, I have lieen accus- 

 tomed for some time to take up my crop of beet at the period when 

 it became necessary to prepare the land for winter seed, that is to 

 say, more than a month before the general harvest of the root. In 

 doing so I relied upon the interesting fact ascertained by M. Peligot 

 in the course of Ins chemical inquiries, viz : that the composition of 

 the beet is identical at cv(>ry age. In this premature or anticipated 

 beet harvest, a less weight o( root is of course gathered than would 

 hare been obtained at a later period ; but the nutritious powers of 



