302 CHAPTER XVIII 



classes of stock, as well as for their tonic value as part of the 

 winter rations. Their chief uses in South Africa are to add 

 succulence to the rations and to supplement grazing during 

 the winter and eariy spring months. 



1.— SUGAE BEET. 



The sugar beet is the principal sugar producing crop of 

 Europe, for which purpose it is extensively grown, particu- 

 larly in Germany. 



In South Africa, sugar is more profitably produced from 

 sugar cane, and, while having a higher nutritive value than 

 mangels, as a foodstuff for stock, sugar beets are not likely to 

 receive the same attention as mangels, since the latter are 

 heavier yielding and require less labour in harvesting. 



When grown as a stock-food the cultural methods are 

 identical with those required for mangels. 



Sugar beets are really strains of mangels which have been 

 specially evolved for their high sugar content, and which, by 

 continued selection, have become fixed types. " They are 

 comparatively small, the best weighing froii^i IJ to 2 J pounds, 

 and of conical or elongated shape. Unlike mangels, the 

 thickened ' roots ' are almost entirely buried in the soil. 

 The roots should not be fanged. In good varieties the skin 

 is white, the flesh firm and white, with a large number of 

 close concentric rings of vascular bundles." x\s the sugar is 

 stored chiefly in the small-celled parenchyma, those having 

 a large number of concentric rings and of a dense consistency 

 are richest in sugar. Beets with upright leaves and long 

 petioles are always less rich in sugar than those with leaves 

 which lie close to the ground and have shorter petioles. 



Composition. 



Water-content ... 80 per cent. 



Cane-sugar ... 15 to 16 per cent, in good 



varieties. 

 Woody-fibre ... 1"3 per cent. 



Vilmorin's Improved is one of the best known varieties, 

 and has given good growth under cultivation in South Africa. 



2.— LEAF-BEET OK CHAKD. 



The root is not enlarged. The tender leaves and en- 

 larged petioles are used in the same way as spinach. It is 

 supposed to be the progenitor of the mangel, and was known 



