50 FACTS AND FIGURES OR THE 



Beets should be packed with the tops on, as these make 

 excellent greens. Some markets require the beets tied in 

 bunches of about four to the bunch ; others prefer them 

 loose. The best crate for packing them in is the barrel, 

 cabbage crate or the lettuce hamper. The cabbage crate 

 1 olds about two hundred beets and the lettuce hamper half 

 as man}'. There is another flat crate that is used in the Cole- 

 man (Florida) section, but T do not like it as well as either 

 of the above named. Care must be taken in packing ; shake 

 all the dirt and trash off the beets before they are put in 

 the crates, also pull off all the dead leaves. The best way 

 to pack them is in layers, and be sure to get the crate full, 

 as they will naturally shake down in transit. 



Any of the Southern markets will use beets nearly the 

 whole season, paying good prices for them. Washington, 

 D. C, Baltimore, Md., and Philadelphia, Pa., are also good 

 markets for them. 



Now that we have the first crop off, we must prepare 

 for the second. About a month before this crop was ready 

 to ship you should have made up the seed beds and sown 

 another lot of beet seed. You will, in all probability, have 

 to cover the young plants this time, in case of frost, as they 

 are very tender until they are about six inches high. This 

 covering can be easily made by putting a frame around the 

 bed and stretching a light quality of duck or canvas over 

 the frame. Treat the second lot of plants the same as you 

 did the first. Before setting them plow the field several 

 times, giving it 1,000 pounds of some good commercial ferti- 

 lizer that will analyze about as follows : Ammonia, 5% ; 

 a- ailable phosphoric acid, 7%, and notash, 8%. Mark the 

 land oS the same as you did before, only making the rows 

 twenty-four inches apart this time. 



