THE 96 
GARDEN YARD 
places even in September, the turnip-rooted 
variety may be sown for fall and early winter 
use, but special attention must be given to 
tilling them so that the soil may not be too dry. 
The best and firmest of the roots may be stored 
for winter use, and for better prices. 
Early beets are sold in bunches of six, but 
late crops are sold in baskets or barrels. Five 
to eight pounds of seed are needed for each 
acre; one ounce will sow from 75 to 100 feet of 
drill. The average crop is from 300 to 400 
bushels to the acre. 
Beets have three serious diseases: root-rot, 
for which apply lime to the soil; leaf-spot, kept 
in check by spraying with Bordeaux mixture; 
scab, for which the only cure now used is not 
to plant where the land is infested. 
Beets respond to special fertilizers, which 
may be used if the soil is already rich in plant 
food, and the market will afford enough profit 
to pay for the extra expense. At the New 
Jersey Experiment Station from 400 to 700 
pounds of nitrate of soda well-worked into the 
soil before the plants were set out, increased the 
yield from 10 to 23 per cent.; and the earliness 
all the way from 173 to 135 per cent. In the 
“Farmer’s Cyclopedia of Agriculture,” Messrs. 
Wilcox and Smith of the Department of Agri- 
