BEET. 135 



safest date for sowing near Savannah is about Janu- 

 ary 10th, and earlier or later, according to latitude. In 

 middle Florida the beet may be sown through November 

 and December. Like all tap-rooted plants, the beet de- 

 lights in a deep, rich, loose soil, a low, but thoroughly 

 drained, sandy mould being the best. If loamy, let the 

 soil be deeply stirred, freed from clods and lumps, and 

 made fine and mellow. 



It is desirable to have clean and smooth roots, and 

 fresh stable manure in the drill is objectionable, as it 



Fig. 20. EGYPTIAN BEET. Fig. 21. EARLY BLOOD TURNIP BEET. 



tends to make them branch or to produce "fingers and 

 toes." Any rank manure in the drill, like night-soil, is 

 objectionable, and hog manure is said to communicate an 

 unpleasant flavor to the roots. Beets require a nitroge- 

 nous fertilizer, and well-rotted stable manure, thirty loads 

 to the acre, broadcast, supplemented with five hundred 

 pounds of Peruvian guano, or with three hundred pounds 

 of nitrate of soda; or three-fourths of a ton of the guano, 

 or half a ton of nitrate of soda, composted with muck, will 

 suffice without the stable manure. But in this case, the 

 land should have previously produced some well-manured 

 crop. As this plant is a native of the sea shore, an ap- 

 plication of twelve bushels of salt per acre is beneficial to 

 crops distant from the coast. If the cultivation of the 

 beet crop is to be entirely by hand, the seed may be sown 



