INTEODUCTION. XXI 



tion. The ploughing is Bot in this case a necessity, 

 and it is but just that the last planted crop should bear 

 a portion of the expense of the cultivation of this root. 

 Yarious estimates of cultivation for Germany and 

 France have been given, from which one can form but 

 a slight idea of what may be done in this country ; but, 

 from the author's experience and from letters received 

 from farmers where their opinions have been advanced, 

 a fair surmise may be made as to the possible cost in the 

 United States. "These beets should be paid for not in 

 accordance, as many suppose, with their weight, as 

 the buyer would then purchase an article from which 

 he might suffer considerably. Paying for the roots 

 proportionately to the sugar they actually contain is 

 far more rational, but unfortunately in Europe it is up 

 to the present day rarely carried out. The farmer's 

 and manufacturer's interest being so radically different, 

 a method giving satisfaction to both is most diflScult. 

 The author advocates a new principle, by the applica- 

 tion of which the farmer produces an excellent root, for 

 which can be justly paid an excellent price. The beet 

 has leaves, the functions of which are similar to those 

 of other plants ; but the possibility of ascertaining the 

 quality of the root by the exterior signs of the leaves, 

 makes them of immense interest in this special case. 

 They form an enormous portion of the crop, and are 

 good for feeding purposes, but, as here shown, should 

 not be utilized, but permitted to fall on the ground and 

 act as a fertilizer, as the necks of the beets would 

 otherwise become large. As to their effects as a food, 



