282 THE SUGAR BEET. 



the importance of the above, and plant a few trees 

 where birds could build their nests and consequently 

 have the comfort they require, and if they were pro- 

 tected from destruction, we are sure they would be more 

 than compensated for it. 



We do not wish to convey the idea that all insects 

 would be thus gotten rid of, for such is not the case, 

 as animals, like men, soon tire of the same food. 



We will now speak of the second enemy of the beet, 

 which does nothing like the harm of the above, but in 

 a new country like the United States it is beyond 

 human power to foresee which of the two is the most to 

 be dreaded in the cultivation of the beet on a large scale. 



Diseases. — Remarkably little has as yet been accom- 

 plished towards ascertaining the real causes of dis- 

 eases that seem to exist not only in the growth of the 

 sugar beet, but in plants in general. And whatever 

 be the theory advanced, there are arguments pro and 

 con, causing much confusion in the minds of men of 

 science.^ 



Dr. Montague's theory is, that all so-called diseases 

 are caused either by small insects or parasite fungi, 

 and even at the present day it is difficult to convince 

 the farmer that his crop has been destroyed by a dis- 

 ease. Without doubt in many cases these fungi do 



' We desire here to call attention to the interesting array of facts bearing 

 upon this subject, and the deductions from them, contained in a pamphlet entitled 

 ' ' Protection to Home Labor and Home Productions necessary to the Prosperity 

 of the American Farmer." By Henry Carey Baird. New York, 1860. 



