CULTIVATION OP THE BEET ROOT. 317 



ARTICLE 11. 

 On the CJioice of SoiL 



All corn lands are more or iess adapted to the cultiva^ 

 tion of beets ; but the best soils for the purpose are those 

 that have the greatest depth of vegetable mould, 



Sandy soils formed by alluvions and the deposits of 

 rivers are also very favorable to the growth of beets ; nor 

 is any other artificial manure necessary upon spots so 

 situated as to receive it, than the mud which is periodically 

 deposited by inundations. 



Beets may be cultivated with good success upon natural 

 or artificial grass lands; but I have always observed, that 

 beets came up badly when sown in the spring upon such 

 lands as had been broken up in the autumn, and ploughed 

 two or three times during the winter : the turf and roots 

 do not in so short a time become sufficiently d€composed ; 

 and in order to have good beet roots, I find it necessary to 

 raise a crop of oats between the time of breaking up a 

 meadow and sowing it with beet seed : after this I can 

 raise two successive crops of the finest beets. If the soil 

 of a natural grass land is dry, or not closely united, it may 

 be sown with beet seed six months after being broken up ; 

 but I have never obtained good harvests of beets from clo- 

 ver lands without having first sown them with a crop of 

 grain : in these lands the beets have always been better 

 the second year than the first. 



Dry, calcareous, and light soils are but little suited to 

 the culture of this root. 



Strong clayey soils are not well adapted to the cultiva- 

 tion of beets ; in order that these roots may prosper, it is 

 necessary that they should grow in a loose, fertile soil, hav- 

 ing a bed of vegetable mould of at least twelve or fifteen 

 inches in depth. 



Beets prosper to a certain extent in all arable lands, 

 but the quantity as well as quality of the product varies 

 surprisingly with the nature of the soil. Good soil will 

 furnish 100,000 lbs. per hectare, (= 2 acres, I rood, 35 

 perches English ;) a poor soil only from 10,000 to 20,000 

 ibs. 



Upon several hectares of lands of very different nature, 

 27* 



