Nelson Association. 487 



tons an acre, while about Magdeburg, in Prussian Saxony, they do not exceed 

 ten or twelve tons. But the latter are richer in sugar and poorer in salts in 

 proportion. 



These facts show how much practical agriculture, as well as climate, have 

 to do with the success of this important manufacture. 



Having regard, therefore, to the use and application of suitable manures, 

 and the proper rotation of crops, the mechanical cultivation of the sugar-beet 

 should be pursued as follows : — 



The ground is to be prepared for it in the same manner as for mangold- 

 wurzel, turnips, or carrots. The best seed is to be got from Magdeburg, in 

 Prussia, or from M. Vilmorin, the celebrated seedsman in Paris. It should be 

 sown in this country in October. Ten pounds to twelve pounds of seed is the 

 quantity required per English acre. Sugar-beets are planted more closely than 

 mangolds. The distance between the rows, and from plant to plant, should 

 not be less than twelve inches nor greater than eighteen inches. If the young 

 plants are caught in spring by a night's frost they should be ploughed up and 

 fresh seed sown. They should be horse and hand-hoed. The earth should be 

 well gathered up round each plant, in order that the head of each root may be 

 completely covered with soil. When the roots begin to show the commence- 

 ment of decay in the leaves, they are ripe, and should be dug out, the mould 

 gently shaken off, and the heads cut off together with as much of the roots as 

 shows the presence of leaf-buds. They should then be piled in heaps on the 

 ground to hinder the evaporation of their moisture, and covered with a layer 

 of earth to protect them from light and frost. A beet-root of good quality 

 should not exceed three pounds in weight, and should be firm, brittle, emitting 

 a creaking noise not unlike a pine-apple when cut, and perfectly sound within ; 

 the degree of sweetness is also a good indication. 



It will be seen by these directions what conditions are necessary to ensure 

 a good root for sugar purposes. Until, however, the experiment which is now 

 being tried of cultivating it in the neighbourhood of Nelson has been tested 

 by chemical analysis, it would be premature to enter into the details of its 

 further treatment in reference to its manufacture into sugar j if the result 

 is satisfactory, there will be read to you at a future time a continuation of 

 this paper, dealing with the several aspects of the question in a manufacturing 

 point of view. 



An interesting discussion ensued on the nature of the different kinds of 

 sugar-beet, as well as on their cultivation and manufacture into sugar at a profit 

 in New Zealand, and a vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Mackay, for his 

 useful and practical paper. 



