Sugar Producing Plants. 461 
sonable fondness. It will absorb potash just as a child will 
eat candy, and grow large and coarse, yielding an impure 
salty juice of small value. Wherefore potash is used very 
sparingly, only in fact, where the absence of it in the ori- 
ginal soil is so marked as to render an addition absolutely 
necessary for the life of the plant. Again nitrogen is an 
element to be avoided in excess, for its use results in large 
spongy beets, which will not keep and yield impure 
juices which are very difficult to handle. The chemically 
inclined readers of this paper will be interested in hearing 
that a strong odour of nitrogen peroxide is frequently 
observed in the factory where the beets are obtained from 
dark rich soils, or those on which a Chili saltpetre is used 
in excess. And when such beets are decomposed by heat- 
ing in the silos, they give out in the process of manufacture, 
inflammable gases which often cause violent explosions. 
: The remaining element of nutrition which the plant 
requires, phosphoric acid, is the greatest friend the sugar- 
maker has. It counteracts the alkalies in the juice, forming 
a harmless combination, and has also a ripening action 
which is most valuable in backward seasons. Therefore, 
when manuring, we add to the soil plenty of phosphoric 
acid and a little nitrogen, while potash is generally for- 
bidden; and in selecting a soil we avoid very rich ones, or 
alkaline ones, and select a light, warm one if possible. 
But really, the only way to tell whether a certain soil is 
fitted for the culture of the beet as a general rule, is to sow 
some seed and see what will come of it. Chemical and 
physical considerations are wonderfully helpful in agricul- 
ture and have revolutionised that science, but up to now no 
chemist can tell what a given soil is best adapted for by 
analysing it, unless of course there be certain very marked 
characteristics. Asa rule, however, beets will grow almost 
anywhere, and will stand more rough usage from the 
weather than any other crop. Their greatest enemy is 
water in the subsoil, which kills the young roots as soon as 
they reach it. Deep and thorough cultivation with plow 
and grubber is absolutely necessary, and this fact, and the 
