PRACTICAL FARMER, 



43 



(From Chaptal's Agricultural Clieraistfy.) 



ON THE CULTIVATION OP THE BEET ROOT, 



AND THE EXTRACTION OP SUGAR FROM IT. 



I feel myself authorized by ten or twelve suc- 

 cessive years of experiments and observations up- 

 on the cultivation of the beet root, and the extrac- 

 tion of sugar from it, to publish some results which 

 may be relied upon. 



As this new branch of industry is capable of 

 being rendered a fruitful source of agricultural 

 prosperity, I shall be pardoned if I enter into all 

 the details which I consider necessary for directing 

 the agriculturist, that he may not try such experi- 

 ments and commit such mistakes, as often lead to 



useless oxj)en3e and nro always diecournging. 

 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE BEET ROOT. 



Beet seed is sown in the latter pait of April and 

 the beginning of May, when there is no longer any 

 danger of the return of frost. I have sown it with 

 good success towards the middle of the month of 

 June ; it is better, however, to sow it neither too 

 early or too late. If it be sown immediately af- 

 ter the cessation of the frosts, the ground being 

 very cold and wet, the seed does not germinate 

 immediately, and the soil becoming hardened by 

 the violence, of the rains, does not admit the air to 

 penetrate, so that if the seed do not decay, 

 the beets come up badly ; when sown late, they 

 suffer from evils of another description ; the rains 

 will then be less frequent, but the great heat dries 

 up the ground, and those soils that are rich and 

 compact form a crust, which the tender plumule 

 of the beet cannot pierce. Those seeds which are 

 sown at the right season have to encounter the 

 danger of being stifled by a host of strange plants 

 that spring up with them, and which render weed- 

 ing very expensive. The most favorable period 

 is that when the earth, although heated by the 

 rays of the sun, still contains sufficient moisture 

 to produce germination, and to facilitate the growth 

 cf the young plant : the last days of April and 

 the first fifteen days of May generally unite these 

 advantages; 



ON THE CHOICE ClF SEED. 



A good agriculturist should always raise his 

 own seeds : for this purpose he will plant his beet 

 roots in the spring in a good soil, and gather the 

 seed in September as fast as it ripens, selecting 

 only the best and leaving upon the stalks such as 

 are not thoroughly ripe : each beet root will fur- 

 nish from five to ten ounces of seeds. 



When no care is taken in selecting the seeds, 

 and they are sown indiscriminately, not only are 

 many of the beets small, and ill grown, but half of 

 the seeds sown do not yield anything. 



Beets vary in color, some being white, others 

 yellow, red, or marbled ; there are even some of 



which the skins afe red and the substance white : 

 it is generally known, that seed from a beet of one 

 color does not always produce the like : a field 

 which is sown with the seeds of yellow beets 

 alone, will invariably yv^ld some roots of the other 

 colors. 



Too much importance has hitherto been affixed 

 to the color ; I have never myself observed any 

 considerable diflference in the products of the dif- 

 ferent kinds; however, I cultivate from preference 

 the yellow and the white, because the process of 

 refining the sugar made from red beets requires a 

 little more time ; for although the lime which is 

 employed in the first operation instantly deprives 

 t;he juice of color, yet it acquires, during concen- 

 tration in the boiler, a bio^vnieli tinge, whifh the 

 sirup from white and that from yellow beets does 

 not receive. 



ON THE CHOICE OF SOIL. 



All corn lands are more or less adapted to the 

 cultivation of beets, but the best soils for the pur- 

 pose are those that have the greatest depth of veg- 

 etable mould. 



Sandy soils formed by alluvions and the depos- 

 its of rivers are also very favorable to the growth 

 of beets, nor is any other aitificial manure neces- 

 sary upon spots so situated as to receive it than 

 the mud which is periodically deposited by inun- 

 dations. 



Beets may be cultivated with good success up- 

 on natural or artificial grass lands ; but I have al- 

 ways observed, that beets came up badly when 

 sown in the spring upon such lands as had been 

 broken up in the autumn, and ploughed two or 

 three times during the winter : the turf and roots 

 do not in so short a time Ijecome sufficiently de- 

 composed ; and in order to have good beet roots, 

 I find it necissary to raise a crop of oats between 

 the time of breaking up a meadow and sowing it 

 with beet seed : after this I can raise two successive 

 crops of the finest beets. If the soil of a natural 

 grass land is dry, or not closely united, it may be 

 sown with beet seed six months after being brok- 

 en up ; but I have never obtained good harvests 

 of beets from clover lands without having first 

 sown them with a crop of grain : In these lands 

 the beets have always been better the second year 

 than the first. 



Dry, calcareous, and light soils are but little 

 suited to the culture of this root. 



Strong clayey soils are not well adapted to the 

 cultivation of beets ; in order that these roots may 

 prosper, it is neceissary that tliey should grow in a 

 loose, fertile soil, having a bed of vegetable mould 

 of at least twelve or fifteen inches in de|»th. 



Beets prosper to a certain extent in all arable 

 lands, but the quantity as well as quality of the 

 product varies surprisingly with the nature of the 



