SUPPLEMENT. 19 



have been made ; for as it was too late to control a proper 

 manuring of the land used, I left the determination of foreign 

 admixtures, which, in quality and quantity are decidedly in- 

 fluenced by the kind of manure applied, to another season, 

 when the soil can be properly prepared and planted with care- 

 fully selected seeds. The results of the past season, being for 

 the reason just referred to of a mere introductory character, 

 will follow as an Appendix to these pages. 



The Cultivation of Sugar-Beets. 



The rules, by which beets are successfully raised for feeding 

 purposes, do not apply to a successful production of the beet 

 for sugar. In the first case, quantity is the main aim ; in the 

 second, besides quantity, a good quality is essential. A good 

 sugar-beet is expected to contain not less than twelve per cent 

 of sugar, a small percentage of saline substances, and the least 

 possible amount of nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous constitu- 

 ents. The more nitrogenous compounds are present, the less 

 sugar will be noticed ; for they exert a controlling influence 

 on the formation of sugar in the growing beet-root. The saline 

 substances, on the other hand, do not affect injuriously the for- 

 mation of sugar ; yet, they place it under very disadvantageous 

 conditions, as far as its final separation in a crystallized state is 

 concerned ; they favor the production of molasses and thus 

 increase the manufacturing expenses. The history of the beet- 

 sugar industry of later years is not without many illustrations 

 of these damaging influences. Some late experiments in this 

 country, no doubt, owe their failure, in part at least, to the 

 fact, that virgin soil, rich in vegetable mould and saline con- 

 stituents, has been used for the cultivation of the sugar-beet. 

 Judging from analogy, we cannot but consider the reported 

 gigantic roots and unusually large crops per acre as unfavorable 

 features of some recent attempts in beet-sugar manufacture. 

 The common mangel is no substitute for the sugar-beet in the 

 production of sugar, while the latter is highly valued for feed- 

 ing purposes and becoming daily more popular. 



Among the various kinds of sugar-beets at present cultivated 

 in Germany, the Silesian white sugar-beet (Achard's beet) is 

 almost exclusively employed. Two of its sub-varieties, the 

 pear-shaped white Silesian beet, with somewhat drooping leaves, 



