CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 155 



Situation of the ground. The position of the ground em- 

 ployed for this culture is not a matter of indifference. In high- 

 land the beet succeeds but imperfectly in dry seasons, but it is 

 then easily worked; the crops on these high grounds are abun- 

 dant in wet seasons. In low marsh grounds the case is revers- 

 ed, the crop is drowned, and the beet generally saturated with 

 water, whilst in warm dry years the crops are excellent, be- 

 cause the heat and drought are counteracted by the fresh and 

 moist sub-soil. To obtain average crops it is, therefore, pru- 

 dent when it can be done, to choose a situation exposed to 

 neither of these extremes. 



Preparation of the soil. Generally speaking I cultivate 

 beets upon all such lands as are appropriated for sowing grain 

 upon in the fall. The lands I prepare for receiving the seed 

 by three good tillings, two of which are performed in the 

 winter, and one in the spring; (in this county one ploughing 

 in the fall, and two or more, if necessary, in the spring, may be 

 given;) by this last ploughing the dung which is thrown upon 

 the ground after the second is mixed with it, the quantity of 

 manure employed is the same as if the ground was to be im- 

 mediately sown with wheat.* The importance of thorough 

 ploughing, harrowing, rolling, and all other means of improv- 

 ing soils is now pretty well understood. All plants do not 

 require in the same degree these precautions, and those which 

 require them least generally rank among exhausting plants, 

 while those that can least dispense with them are considered 

 fertilizing. The beet is of this latter description, and one of 

 the leading advantages which it offers to agriculture is the ne- 

 cessity it creates not only for deep and thorough ploughings, 

 but moreover the careful culture it requires, and the means 

 necessary to gather it, must, in the aggregate, necessarily 

 leave the soil in a highly improved state, and the benefits 

 therefore to rural economy which an extensive culture of this 

 plant must produce are incalculable. 



Sowing the seed. The period of sowing the beet will de- 

 pend in some measure upon the state of the season, the nature 

 of the soil, and the situation of the ground on which the crop 

 is to be raised. Early sowing is strongly recommended by 

 some very judicious cultivators; but the sudden return of 

 frosts in early spring even after many days of pleasant 

 weather renders very early sowing somewhat hazardous. In 

 this latitude, 40, from the middle of April to the middle of 

 May, will probably be found in general the most suitable 

 period. Before planting, pour water moderately warm over 

 the seed, and let it soak one or two days. 



* CHAPTAL'S Agricultural Chemistry, page 317. 



