No. 2. 



Root Crofs. 



53 



applied to the Arts," that after experimenting 

 on a field of beets, and finding them to con- 

 tain a certain per centage of saccharine mat- 

 ter, they were proved, on crushing for the 

 purpose of sugar-making, to contain not a 

 particle of sugar, but to yield a great quan- 

 •[tity of potash! Now, whether this change 

 larose from the peculiar nature of the soil, the 

 kind of manure used for raising the crop, or 

 from permitting that crop to remain in the 

 earth after mature growth, and thus inducing 

 a second vegetation, the result was the same, 

 namely, the destruction of the saccharine 

 principle, and which would, I have no doubt, 

 render them about as unfit for the food of cat- 

 tle as for the making of sugar. So that the 

 eiFect arose either from the nature of the soil, 

 the manure used in the cultivation, or the 

 mismanagement of the crop, the knowledge 

 of which, however, might easily be obtained 

 on due reflection and examination. 



But I have reason to believe that much of 

 the success depends on the species of the 

 beet which is used for the feeding of cattle, 

 and I am strengthened in this opinion, from 

 comparing all the accounts which I have 

 heard, from different quarters, respecting the 

 crops Vv'hich were raised from the first seed 

 that was imported into this country, by the 

 Philadelphia Beet Sugar Society ; part of that 

 was of the large yellow species, and it is, so 

 far as I know, the united testimony of all who 

 cultivated that variety, that the crops grown 

 from it were peculiarly fine ; of a delicious 

 flavour while growing, remaining perfectly 

 sweet through the winter, and retaining their 

 juices unimpaired until late in the spring, at 

 which time they were a most delicious vege- 

 table for the farmer's table ; and this is, in 

 particular, the testimony of one whose vera- 

 city is unquestionable, but who has found 

 cause for complaint and regret, that his crop 

 of the last year was not, in this respect, at all 

 comparable to that raised by him from the 

 seed of the yellow beet, although in quantity 

 the yield was enormous, 55 tons per acre. 



Now, it is no reason because the Silesian 

 or white beet has been found superior to all 

 others, for the purpose of making sugar, that, 

 therefore, it must also be the best for cattle- 

 feed — by no means. It is generally supposed 

 to contain more saccharine matter than any 

 other species, and also, that they yield a juice 

 more easily crystallised than that from other 

 kinds ; but this does not arise from the colour 

 of the juice, as has erroneously been sup- 

 posed, for it is not more difficult to render the 

 compressed juice of the darkest coloured 

 amongst them as perfectly colourless as that 

 from the Silesian ; but it is the liquidity — if 

 that term be allowable — of the juice which 

 fits it peculiarly for this purpose, and which 

 is supposed to have the effect of inducing I 



easier granulation. And, I would ask the 

 scientific amongst your readers, whether it 

 be not jv.st possiUe that this liquidity of the 

 juice is the cause of its running so quickly 

 into a state of fermentation, and thus, of 

 course, deteriorating from its value as a food 

 for cattle? or, in other words, whether the 

 juice of the yellow species, being more glu- 

 tinous, is not more readily retained in its na- 

 tive state in the root, and rendered less easily 

 fermentable'! and whether the fact of the 

 yellow roots never acquiring that bitter, pun- 

 gent flavour during their growth and preser- 

 vation, be not attributable, in some way, to 

 the same cause ? This is an interesting ques- 

 tioii ; would those amongst your readers who 

 are competent, follow it out, for the benefit 

 of those who are seeking after tlie truth. 



The correspondent of the Cultivator goes 

 onjto show that it is to the starch, rather 

 thai to the saccharine matter, contained in 

 anr root, grain, &c., to which its property of 

 feeding is to be attributed, and draws an in- 

 fer mce, very disadvantageous to the beet, 

 froii this reasoning; but, according to this 

 docirine, the experience of all who have been 

 encaged in its culture ought to be uniform 

 in 'is condemnation. It is somewhat of a 

 discovery, too, to find that saccharine is not, 

 to siy the least of it, one of the most fatten- 

 ing principles in nature; and, if the experi- 

 enc; of the eastern states should be found in 

 opp )sition to this long admitted fact, what is 

 to bjcome of all the accounts from the south, 

 thai " at crop-time every thing about the 

 sugkr-house immediately puts on a brisk and 

 lively appearance — the old grey negroes be- 

 coire black as jet, and oily and sleek as 

 mobs; the oldest horses and mules become 

 youig and skittish, and the children can no 

 lonrer get into their clothes," &c. And yet 

 I believe that such, in a degree, is the fact, 

 alth)ugh the cane, any more than the beet, is 

 not found to contain a particle of starch. 

 The fact is, both sugar and starch are good, 

 and will be found extremely valuable for the 

 purjose of feeding all kinds of live-stock, 

 when judiciously managed ; but, as in many 

 othe- cases, the friends of the sugar-beet have 

 proved its enemies ; they were not content to 

 al]o\y it to take its place as the best root-crop 

 in af respects, for common field culture, but 

 — lilje our morus friends — they must deter- 

 mine to make pies of it — to fatten hogs with 

 it ; and, instead of using it as an auxiliary in 

 winter-feeding, give it in profusion, as the 

 correspondent in the Cultivator admits he did, 

 to his cows and to cattle of all descriptions : 

 and, although he comes out decidedly in dis- 

 approbation of the crop, he admits that up to 

 the first of February, they had a profusion of 

 very rich and finely flavoured milk, and con- 

 cludes, " The use of the beet may have a sa« 



