Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 531 



spongy, thick-skinned roots are always more watery tlian those of a 

 uniformly firm, hard, and close texture. 4. Good sugar beets gene- 

 rally weigh from one and a quarter to two pounds, Yery small or 

 very large roots are not usually so well suited for the manufacture of 

 sugar. Roots weighing under three quarters of a pound are fre- 

 quently woody, and, beside sugar, contain to large a proportion of 

 other constituents, which prevent in a large measure the extraction 

 of crystallized sugar from the juice, while roots weighing more than 

 two and a half pounds are generally too watery, and too poor in 

 sugars. 5. Good sugar beets always have small tops, and no tendency 

 to become necky. 6. They do not show much above ground, but 

 grow almost entirely in the ground, Eoots, the tops of which grow 

 above ground, do not yield so much sugar as others that bury them- 

 selves better in the soil, for the heads of the roots, being exposed to 

 light, turn greenish and yield less crystallizable sugar than the parts 

 covered by the soil. Manufacturers of sugar cut off the greenish- 

 colored heads of the roots before they are pulped, and hence much 

 waste takes place when beet-roots grown, in a large measure, above 

 ground are sent to the manufactory. Generally speaking, the higher 

 the specific gravity of a beet root the more it is esteemed for its 

 sugar-producing qualities. Good roots are considerably more dense 

 than water, and rapidly sink to the bottom of a vessel filled with 

 water. The expressed juice of good beet roots has a clean, sweet 

 taste, and a specific gravity of from 1,060 to 1.070. When very high 

 in sugar, the specific gravity of the juice rises above l.OTO, reaching 

 occasionally 1.075 to 1,078, On cutting a beet root across we shall see 

 that it is composed of concentric zones or layers, diflering in color 

 more or less, according to the variety. The exterior, or skin, is com- 

 posed of compact cellular tissue. Next will be seen concentric zones, 

 the number of which corresponds with that of the several circles of 

 leaves forming the tops, and the breadth of which depends on the 

 stage of development of the leaves. The oldest and most exter- 

 nal leaves are in direct communication with the oldest and most 

 central layers or zones, composed of cellular and vascular tissue, 

 while the youngest and most central leaves communicate with the 

 most recent external concentric zones of the root, and provide them 

 with nourishment. If the leaves of a beet root are very large and 

 luxuriant, the concentric rings of the root with which they com- 

 municate will also be found very large, the tissue of their rings 

 spongy, and the cells large and filled with sap, that is, comparatively 



