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BEE 



BEE 



in salt marshes ; and a white beet 

 cultivated in gardens for the sake 

 of its leaves, which are sometimes 

 used in soups. The root is small, 

 and commonly hard and tough. 



But the sort which is most val- 

 uable, is the red beet, with a large, 

 pyramidal, fleshy root ; the leaves 

 of which are large, thick and juicy. 

 The larger these roots grow, the 

 more tender they are : And the 

 deeper their colour, the better. 

 The best of red beets have reddish 

 leaves. In some of the varieties 

 the leaves are all over red. 



Beets require a mellow and 

 warm soil, moderately rich, and 

 well pulverized to a good depth. 

 For as they naturally run deep, in 

 shallow ground they will be short, 

 stringy, and irregularly shaped. 



Beets should be sown early. 

 A good method is, to set the 

 seeds in squares of about eight or 

 nine inches in poor ground ; in 

 rich ground they should be at least 

 a foot asunder. If a fourth part 

 of the seeds should fail, the crop 

 will not be lessened. 



As the capsule, commonly call- 

 ed a beet-seed, contains several 

 cells, each of which has a seed, 

 they are apt to produce four or 

 five plants in a bunch. — These 

 should be carefully reduced to 

 one, leaving the healthiest plant. 

 If this precaution is omitted, the 

 plants will be inevitably small and 

 frequently the roots will be inter- 

 twisted. — Those which are taken 

 out may be transplanted ; but they 

 are not so apt to make good roots. 

 Though they may be thick, they 

 will be apt to be wanting in length. 



The ground should be hoed two 

 or three times, after which the 



leaves will so cover the ground, 

 as to stop the further growth of 

 weeds. 



The under leaves may be brok- 

 en off towards fall, and thrown to 

 the swine, which are very fond of 

 them. This will not injure the 

 roots at all ; for if they are left on, 

 they will soon decay. Taking 

 away part of ihe leaves will let in 

 the sun and air, which will be of 

 advantage to the roots. 



The roots should be taken up 

 before any severe frost com.es ; 

 none of the fibrous roots should 

 be taken away ; nor the heads cut 

 very close. In this state, also, 

 they should be boiled, that none 

 of their rich juice may escape. 



They may be used in autumn, 

 and kept good all winter. But if 

 any frost touches them, though 

 they will not presently rot, they 

 will become tough, and unfit for 

 the table. And, in the spring, 

 their early sprouting depreciates 

 them. 



" The Mangel JVurtzel Beet, or 

 Root of Scarcity is raised from seed 

 sown annually in the spring, the 

 same as the other sorts, in any open 

 situation, but should generally be 

 sown thinner, either in drills one or 

 two feet asunder, or broad-cast on 

 the general surface, and raked in ; 

 and when the plants are come up 

 one, two, or three inches in 

 growth, they should be thinned to 

 a proportionable distance, to give 

 room for the full expansion of their 

 large leaves. Some however, ad- 

 vise transplanting, when the young 

 plants are of two or three inches 

 growth, setting them in rows of one 

 or two feet asunder : This seems, 

 however, unnecessary : especially 



