BEET LEAF KEEPING. 97 



seen that the losses are considerable when not promptly utilized, 

 especially in cases where they are considered as having fertiliz- 

 ing value. Their nourishing value means 1,600 (1,408 Ibs. to the 

 acre) kilograms of dry substance to the hectare, of which 260 

 kilograms (228 Ibs. to the acre) are albuminoids. Their value, 

 which is frequently only moderately appreciated, is in reality 

 such that it should not be neglected, and if added to the price 

 paid for the beet at the factory one will be surprised to see at 

 what cost these roots could be furnished to the manufacturer by 

 the farmer; notwithstanding this fact, many tillers will not take 

 the matter into consideration. 



In 1873 in estimates of the possible money cost of working a 

 beet-sugar factory the beet leaves to be harvested were frequently 

 taken inlo consideration. The idea then was to utilize them in 

 a manner that has never since been realized they were to form 

 a substitute for tobacco. 



The only rational utilization of beet leaves which is generally Beet leaf 

 applied at the present day, consists in keeping them as a sort of kee P' n S- 

 sour fodder. The first experiments at beet leaf keeping that we 

 know of were made in 1852 at Thiede, but these were not suc- 

 cessful, for the simple reason that air was allowed to enter the 

 silos, which is very objectionable, as we shall see later on. 

 Since then many modes have been proposed which were intended 

 to obviate existing faults, but none of these systems proved 

 successful. The method which is now generally adopted con- 

 sists in allowing the leaves to remain on the field for three or 

 four days, after which period they are soft and no longer possess 

 the rigidity which would otherwise have prevented their satis- 

 factory settling in the silos. Comparative experiments made 

 by Muller show just to what extent the method of placing in 

 silos exerts an influence. In the one case the leaves in a more 

 or less wilted condition were placed in a silo in layers and well 

 pressed and subsequently covered with three feet of earth; in 

 the other the ordinary mode of siloing was adopted. 



