S8o 



The Growth of Sugar Beet. [Jan., 



the land is, the closer the plants should be left when singling. 

 The later management is practically identical with that of the 

 mangold crop, and consists in cultivating and hoeing to keep 

 the surface loose and the land free from weeds. In hoeing 

 the earth should always be drawn a little towards the plants, as 

 this helps to increase their sugar content. 



When in October the outer leaves begin to get yellow and 

 flaccid the crop is ready to lift, which is by no means as easy 

 an operation as lifting the mangold crop, so closely do the 

 fine fibres of the root cling to the ground. On soils of ordinary 

 consistency it is impossible to pull the crop ; it is necessary 

 to lift the roots with a fork, an operation which adds seriously 

 to the expense of growing sugar beet as compared with mangolds. 



In the case of sugar beet intended for the factory the crown 

 of leaves would have to be twisted off, or the leaves and a 

 little of the tops cut off, and the adhering dirt roughly removed 

 from the roots. The factories usually do the final cleaning and 

 topping and tailing, making their own regulations as to the 

 degree of cleanness of the roots on which they will insist. 



The sugar beet leaves do not form a very satisfactory food 

 for stock, and are apt to induce scour ; they are best ploughed in, 

 and if fed it must be with caution and in conjunction with a 

 fair proportion of dry food. The slices from which the sugar 

 has been extracted in the factory are usually returned to the 

 farmer providing the roots, and form a good succulent food for 

 the winter feeding of cattle. 



The average yield which may be expected is not very heavy ; 

 the general average of experiments all over the country 

 in 1898 was 157 tons per acre ; the average yield in Germany, 

 even where intensive cultivation is practised, is only 10 to 12 tons 

 per acre. Larger yields are only to be obtained by spacing 

 the plants more widely and by increased manuring, with the 

 inevitable result of an inferior quality of root for sugar making. 



Use of Sugar Beet as Food for Stock. — In the absence of 

 factories to which the sugar beet crop can be sold, the roots 

 can be clamped and stored like mangolds, to be used in the 

 same way as food for stock. For this purpose it should be 

 remembered that they possess, roughly, twice the feeding value 

 of an equal weight of mangolds. They can be used as food 



