286 GAKDEXIXG FOE THE SOUTH. 



lished. The external form and color of the beet indicate 

 these distinguishing' characteristics. The fine flavor of 

 these sugar beets also make them excellent for table use. 

 The two varieties generally cultivated in this country are 

 Klein Wanzleben and Vilmorin Improved. 



Culture. — The beet, being a native of the sea-shore, 

 abounds in soda, which can be supplied, when deficient, 

 by an application of common salt the autumn before 

 planting. This, and leached or unleaehed ashes, will 

 afford nearly all the inorganic elements of the crop. A 

 top dressing of nitrate of soda is excellent. But care 

 must be taken not to let the chemical come in contact 

 with the foliage. 



The main summer crop of beets should be planted when 

 the peach and plum are in full blossom. A few Bas- 

 sano or Early Turnip should be planted a few weeks 

 earlier, and of other kinds successive beds may be made 

 whenever the soil is in a suitable state, from January 

 until the summer droughts come on. Advantage should 

 be taken of the rains that usually occur about the last of 

 July, or early in August, to put iu a crop for winter. This 

 crop should be put in earlier the farther northward the 

 locality. At New York, the main crop is planted as early 

 as the middle of June, about three and a half months be- 

 fore killing frosts. This last planting often proves a 

 failure in the dry autumns of a Southern climate. It 

 generally will succeed in rich, fine soil. 



When the surface soil is rich and the bottom poor, it 

 will be difficult to make the beet, carrot, and other tap- 

 rooted plants produce fine, smooth roots. This difficulty 

 will cease if the ground be deeply and thoroughly worked, 

 mingling the soil and making it uniform throughout, and 

 taking care to place at the depth of one foot below the 

 surface a layer of good manure. 



The best beets grow in sandy bottom lands, but any soil 



