SELECTION OF ROOTS FOE SEED, &c. 443 



be touched by the trimming-knife, and the tops should be 

 wrenched off so as not to injure the crown. They^require 

 to be well protected during the winter, and in the spring, 

 about March, they should be planted out in a piece of 

 ground previously prepared for them by deep tillage and 

 good manuring, at distances of about 3 feet apart, the 

 roots being covered, so that the crown should just be on a 

 level with the surface. The hoe should be freely used 

 between them during their growth. As the season 

 advances, a stout flower-stem is thrown up 4 to 5 feet 

 high. 1 The seed is formed in due course, and about 

 September is sufficiently matured for harvesting, which is 

 carried on in the ordinary way, the seed being thrashed 

 out by the flail on the ground, or on the barn floor, as 

 may be most convenient. The produce is subject to great 

 variations from the effects of weather, injuries from 

 birds (which are very fond of it), insects, &c. It may be 

 taken at from 8 to 20 cwts. per acre 1 2 cwts. are usually 

 considered a satisfactory crop. 



In France, where a largely-developed industry is based 

 upon the beet-root cultivation, the percentage of sugar 

 contained in the root is a point of great economic import- 

 ance, the pecuniary success of the operation being, of 

 course, largely affected by it. This led M. Louis Vilmorin 

 to turn his attention to the subject, and he found that, by 

 testing the expressed juice of the roots with the saccharo- 

 meter, in the manner and with the apparatus described at 

 p. 331 in reference to the specific gravity of the turnip, and 

 selecting those for seed purposes containing the highest 

 percentage of sugar, he was able, by carefully pursuing 

 this method, in the course of a few years to produce a 

 stock which contained a great increase upon the ordinary 



1 Mr. Baker, of Writtle, Essex, an extensive ;tnd careful grower, recommends 

 that the flowering should be carefully watched, and that all the plants bearing 

 deep orange-coloured flowers should be at once pulled up. 



