42 



BEET. 



loam. In 1823, about three fourths of the same was sowed 

 with onionSj and manured with about 8 cords of compost 

 manure to the acre. The other quarter was sowed with 

 wheat without manure. In the fall of 1823, there were 

 about 10 cords of compost manure drawn on the lot, and 

 put in a heap. Most of the srdd compost was drawn from 

 the salt marshes, when ditching the same ; the other part 

 was from the barn-yard. In the month of April, 1824, the 

 heap was thrown over, and well mixed. 



Planting, — Col. Powel says, " The holes for the seeds 

 were made by a wheel, containing pegs in its circumference, 

 which penetrated the ground about an inch, leaving inter- 

 vals of four inches ; the rows were made 2 feet asunder ; 

 two capsules were dropped into each hole ; the wheel of a 

 common barrow was passed over them, thus compressing 

 the earth, and leaving a slight rut for the retention of mois- 

 ture." 



Messrs. Tristram and Henry Little observe, that, " Be- 

 tween the 8th and 11th of May, the land was ploughed 

 and sowed in the following manner : — After one deep plough- 

 ing, the ground was furrowed two and a half feet apart, and 

 the manure put into the furrows, and covered with a double 

 mould-board plough ; a roller was then passed on the top 

 of the ridge, and the seed dibbled in with the finger over 

 the manure, about six or eight inches apart." The quantity 

 of seed, according to English writers, is four pounds to an 

 acre. Mr. David Little, in obtaining a premium crop, sowed 

 four pounds, but observed that he thought half that quantity 

 would have been sufficient. 



After-culture, — In raising Col. Powel's crop, " A small 

 cultivator, which I had contrived for the purpose, was 

 drawn between the rows soon after the weeds appeared ; 

 a three inch triangular hoe removed the alternate plants, 

 leaving the others at distances varying from 8 to 12 inches 

 asunder. The cultivator was twice used before the 20th of 

 July. The heavy rains of August made another hoeing 

 necessary, and surcharged the ground so much with mois- 

 ture, that all roots increased much less in that month than 

 during the same time in the two last years." The Messrs. 

 Little, " in the course of the season, thinned their plants, 

 and left them from 6 to 12 inches apart in the rows. They 

 were once hoed, and ploughed three times between the 



