SUPPLEMENT. 27 



A beet-root from one to one and one-half pounds is prefera- 

 ble to those from two to three pounds. Every common beet 

 seed, containing by its natural construction from two to three 

 germs, will produce as many plants, of which the strongest is 

 left, whilst the rest are pulled up or otherwise destroyed in due 

 time. The process of thinning out the plants takes place as soon 

 as the roots have reached a length of from three to four inches, 

 and, if possible, shortly after a rain, to prevent the loosening of 

 the soil around the specimen left. A transplanting of sugar- 

 beet plants from a separate bed to the lands for final cultivation 

 is rarely resorted to ; it is only recommended to fill out the gaps 

 produced by the failure of seeds. Whenever this failure 

 acquires any considerable proportion in the beet fields, a re- 

 seeding is preferred, provided the season has not too far advanced. 

 The soil around the young plant should be frequently loosened 

 by proper implements (every two or three weeks), and the roots 

 kept carefully covered, until the leaves have acquired their 

 proper development early in June. Such treatment destroys 

 the weeds and increases the hygroscopic and general absorptive 

 properties of the soil, and thus favors highly an undisturbed, 

 early and rapid development of the leaves. The latter, it is 

 asserted, exert a controlling influence on the formation of sugar. 

 M. Vilmorin considers a Itirge number of rows of leaf marks, 

 as previously stated, an essential property of a good sugar-beet. 

 The leaves absorb as a general rule atmospheric food in propor- 

 tion to their number and size. The sooner they acquire a good 

 size, and the more numerous they are, the better are the 

 chances of a copious formation of sugar, for this apparently 

 depends to a great degree on the supply of atmospheric food. 

 There are three distinct periods in the growth of the beet, viz. : 

 the development of the leaves, which closes usually within the 

 first half of June ; the formation of the roots which is accom- 

 plished by the middle of September or first part of October ; 

 and, finally, the production of the seeds which takes place in the 

 second year. The ripeness of the roots is indicated by a change 

 in the color of leaves from a deep green to a yellowish tint. 

 Those varieties which show a particular inclination to grow out 

 of the soil are considered inferior. As soon as the leaves have 

 reached their size, which happens in ordinary years usually in 

 the fore part of June, the loosening of the soil and the cover- 



