BEET 



practice to throw the earth from the 

 rows against the roots ; but the most 

 experienced cultivators do not ap- 

 prove the method ; on the contrary, 

 they recommend drawing the earth 

 from the plants, or at least laying the 

 whole ground level. Wliere the soil 

 is naturally rich and deep, the drills 

 may be made on the level ground ; 

 but if the soil is shallow, or the sub- 

 soil of a barren nature, it is best to 

 raise small ridges, as is done for tur- 

 nips, and bury the dung under them, 

 by which means the roots have more 

 room to strike downward. As soon 

 as the outer leaves begin to droop, 

 they may be gathered and given to 

 cattle, but a tuft should be left in the 

 centre to carry on the vegetation, or 

 else the roots will not increase. This 

 practice of gathering the leaves is 

 strongly recommended by some, and 

 they assert that the root does not suf- 

 fer in the least, although the leaves 

 are reproduced ; but here we would 

 give this caution, founded on experi- 

 ence and observation. The drooping 

 leaves, if not gathered, will decay and 

 fall off; they have performed their 

 office, and therefore to gather them 

 before they wither is a real economy ; 

 but to strip off fresh and growing 

 leaves must injure the plant, and the 

 juices required to replace them are so 

 much taken from the growth of the 

 roots. AVhen fodder is very scarce, 

 this may be a sacrifice worth making ; 

 but if the object is to reserve the roots 

 for winter food, the leaves should re- 

 main on the plant as long as they look 

 fresh and growing, until near the time 

 of taking uj) the whole crop ; the top 

 may then be cut off an inch above the 

 crown of the root, and will be excel- 

 lent food for the cows and pigs. 



The roots are generally taken up 

 and stored for winter some time be- 

 fore there is any danger of consider- 

 able frost, the top having been remo- 

 ved. The roots are then either stack- 

 ed in a barn or root-house, with al- 

 ternate layers of straw, and the sides 

 and top protected from the frost by 

 straw placed all round, in which way 

 they will keep well and fresh till 

 spring ; or they are placed in trench- 

 88 



es two feet deep and six feet wide, 

 with a layer of straw at the bottom 

 and against the sides : they are heap- 

 ed up in these trenches to the height 

 of three feel above the ground, form- 

 ing a ridge at top, and then covered 

 all over with straw, over which the 

 earth taken out of the trench is spread 

 and made smooth, sloping like the 

 roof of a house. A small trench is 

 dug all round this heap, with a prop- 

 er outlet to prevent-any water from 

 soaking in; the heaps. are made of 

 any length, according to the quantity 

 of roots to be stored, and the two ends 

 are secured with straw and covered 

 with earth like the sides. When it 

 is required to take out the roots for 

 use, an opening is made at the end, 

 a sufficient quantity is taken out, and 

 the end is secured again with straw 

 and earth as before. When the roots 

 have been put in dry, and some time 

 has been allowed for a slight fermen- 

 tation, and the steam produced has 

 been allowed to escape before the 

 heap was finally covered in, they will 

 come out quite fresh and juicy till late 

 in spring ; but if the proper precau- 

 tions are neglected, they will often rot 

 or become musty, and then the cattle 

 will not readily eat them. There are 

 few crops so valuable for winter food 

 for cattle as the beet. 



" Expense of an Acre of Sugar Beets. 

 Use of an acre of land well prepared for 

 beets, and manured or managed in the 



previous crop $12 00 



PlouEfhing- 4 00 



Ciillivating, horse cultivator and hand, 



2 hours 50 



Twice more before sowing- . . . 1 00 

 Seed, S2 25 ; sowing with a machine, 



75 cents 3 00 



First hoeing 4 00 



Second hoeing, thinning, and transplant- 

 ing, to supply deficiencies . . 4 90 

 Iloeing again, and loosening the ground 



with machines . . . . . 2 00 

 Harvesting 9 00 



$39 iO 



" Make the rows two feet four inch- 

 es apart, and then a cultivator can be 

 used in hoeing. If the beets stand one 

 foot apart in the rows, and weigh two 

 and a quarter pounds each, the yield 

 will be twenty tons. In rich ground, 

 at that distance, a great number will 



