322 CHYMISTRY APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE. 



During the months of July and August, he made experi- 

 ments upon beets every eight days, and always obtained 

 from three and a half to four per cent, of good sugar. 

 Satisfied with these results, he discontinued his experiments, 

 in order to devote all his time to the care of his establish- 

 ment ; but how great was his surprise at finding towards 

 the end of October that his beets yielded only sirup and 

 salt-petre, and not a particle of crystallizable sugar. 



Generally speaking, beets may be dug as soon as their 

 largest leaves begin to turn yellow. If harvested before 

 arriving at maturity, they wither, wrinkle, and grow soft : 

 the juice is extracted from them in this state with more 

 difficulty, and the sugar does not grain so well. 



The leaves, which are separated from the roots as fast 

 as they are taken from the ground, may be left upon the 

 spot and there eaten by cows, sheep, or swine ; but they 

 are so abundant that there will still remain enough to serve 

 as a half manure for the land, and it is in this soil, after 

 having slightly ploughed it, that I sow my grains. As the 

 earth has been manured in the spring, and afterwards freed 

 from weeds by repeated hoeings, the corn will grow very 

 large and be very clean ; so that the first tillage and ma- 

 nuring serve for two harvests, and the ploughings which 

 are given in autumn to lands appropriated to the reception 

 of wheat or rye, are saved. 



ARTICLE VII. 



On the. best Method of Keeping Beet Roots. 



Beets are affected both by cold and heat : they freeze 

 at a temperature one degree below the freezing point of 

 water, and they germinate with a degree of heat but little 

 above freezing : freezing softens them and destroys their 

 saccharine principle, and they decay as soon as they are 

 thawed. Heat developes the stalks at the necks of the 

 roots, and decomposes the juices which supply their growth. 

 During the first stages of germination, the alteration of the 

 juices is only local ; so that if the neck of the root be cut 

 off, the remainder of it may be made use of without any 

 inconvenience. In order to keep beets, it is necessary to 

 preserve them both from heat and cold. 



