1905.] The Growth of Sugar Beet. 579 



then by a cross ploughing as soon as the land can be worked 

 in the spring, after which it is only necessary to use the culti- 

 vator and harrow to work the land down for a seed bed. It is 

 very important to get the first ploughing done in good time 

 before the winter. The seed is best drilled on the flat, not 

 on ridges. 



Manuring. — Heavy dressings of farmyard manure are not 

 recommended, because they injure the quality of the sugar beet 

 In the rotations practised in this country it is difficult to give a 

 coat of farmyard manure to any crop immediately preceding 

 sugar beet, and as the first start of the seed is very much helped 

 by the presence of some easily decomposing organic matter, it 

 will be generally wise to use some dung for this crop, 12 to 

 16 tons per acre, which, as mentioned above, should be ploughed 

 in before the winter. The other manures required are about 3 

 cwt. per acre of superphosphate and 1 cwt. per acre of sulphate of 

 potash, which should be sown broadcast and worked in by the last 

 cultivation and harrowing before sowing. On sandy and gravelly 

 land the sulphate of potash should be increased, since the pro- 

 duction of sugar is very dependent on a free supply of potash 

 If kainit be used instead of the sulphate of potash, it should be 

 sown before the land is ploughed up for the winter. Valuable 

 as salt is for mangolds, it should not be used for sugar beet. 



Nitrogenous manures are necessary, but should be used in 

 smaller quantities than with mangolds ; nitrate of soda, again, is 

 not so suitable a manure as sulphate of ammonia, though it 

 produces a larger yield. The nitrate of soda encourages a more 

 deeply rooting habit, and, in consequence, a more prolonged 

 and slowly ripening growth. 



If dung has been used in the autumn it will be sufficient 

 to sow 1 cwt. per acre of sulphate of ammonia with the super- 

 phosphate and sulphate of potash ; in the absence of dung 

 a further 1 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia should be used as a 

 top-dressing when the plants are singled. 



Solving and Cultivation. — The seed should be drilled at th 

 rate of 20 to 30 lb. per acre, the rows being never more than 

 16 in. apart ; indeed, for producing high-grade roots, the best, 

 distance between the rows is about 12 in. The plants should be 

 set out early, and finally singled to one in every 9 in. The richer 



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