CHOPS 59 



of many fibrous roots. If beets are being grown for a local 

 market, not too discriminating, they may be a profitable 

 crop when grown in any good soil. 



Planting. Beets are a cold-loving vegetable and may, 

 therefore, be planted in the spring as soon as the ground can 

 be gotten into good condition. The seed should be the best 

 quality obtainable and should be sown in drills, not too 

 thickly. The rows should be fourteen to sixteen inches 

 apart. The distance between plants in the row will depend 

 upon the size of root desired. It is a good plan to sow the 

 seed rather thickly, thin them when six to eight inches high, 

 and sell the thinnings for greens. The next pulling would 

 be for earlj' bunch beets and the final harvest would be of 

 the roots near maturity or when fully grown. 



Transplanting. Eeets transplant easily and to good 

 advantage in sandy loams. The plants should be grown 

 from four to six weeks in a hot bed or greenhouse before 

 transplanting. Handle the seedling carefully, the more 

 careful the handling, the fewer fibrous roots will be found. 

 The plants should be well hardened before moving them to 

 the field. If well hardened, they will stand freezing without 

 damage. 



Marketing. Early beets are always sold in bunches, 

 the number in a bunch varies from four to ten, depending 

 upon the season and the size of the roots. More mature 

 beets are sold by the bushel box. The tops are cut off at 

 least an inch from the root. 



Fertilizers. Early beets should grow very quickly. 

 The beets for storage need not be grown so rapidly, but 

 should maintain a steady growth. Nitrogenous fertilizers 

 are necessary for earliness, but a more balanced fertilizer 

 is best for the later crop. The ground should have a heavy 

 dressing of stable manure at the rate of at least 20 cords to 



