36 



handle as a lever throws up the root, the boy who follows 

 takes one in each hand by the neck and by striking them 

 against each other detaches as much of the earth as he 

 can, and then lays them in a line the roots on one side and 

 the neck on the other. 



Section II. — Cutting off the iojjs. When the beets 

 are disposed in lines, as has been described in the preced- 

 ing section, a man with a sharp spade follows between the 

 lines, and with a stroke of the spade cuts off the tops, one 

 at each blow : with a little habit this is done so expeditious- 

 ly, that a single man will in France, top more beets than 

 can be dug and disposed in lines by twenty. It is essen- 

 tial that this cutting off the top should be managed with 

 care and skill, so that he should neither take off too much 

 nor too little ; it is the extreme, or neck of the beet, which 

 should alone be cut off This operation is intented to pre- 

 vent a new vegetation of the leaves, which w^ould frequent- 

 ly happen if they were only fulled ofi^ and this sprouting 

 would considerably diminish the saccharine principle in 

 the root. It is only done therefore, for the preservation of 

 this ; for it occasions a wound in the root which, after all 

 is only the lesser of two evils. 



Section III. — Collecting in piles, and carriage to the 

 store-houses. When the beets are dug and topped it is well 

 to let them remain spread over the ground for some days 

 to dry the wound made by the last operation, described ; 

 this exposure will be favorable to the plant in other re- 

 spects if the weather is dry and warm ; in this case, in- 

 deed, it cannot be exposed too long; but if rainy, injury 

 instead of benefit might be expected. 



Whenever it is considered that the beets have been 

 sufficiently long on the field they are to be collected in 

 files containing on one square yard the produce of sixty 

 to a hundred. A number of these must be made in the 



