191 1.] The Cultivation of the Sugar-beet. 



797 



centres for the French district being Arras, Amiens, and 

 Soissons (four years only), and for the German district, Halle, 

 Magdeburg, and Erfurt (four years only). 



A comparison of the figures shows that in April all three 

 districts have a rainfall between i in. and i'6 ins.; in May 

 the rainfall for the English and German centres is almost 

 identical (2 ins.), while that for France is 2*6 ins.; in June — 

 a month when plentiful rain is needed for the crop — the 

 English centre has a distinct advantage, which is, however, 

 lost in July but recovered in August; and in the critical month 

 of ripening — September — the three districts may be con- 

 sidered about equal. On the whole, therefore, the eastern 

 counties appear to compare very favourably as regards rainfall 

 with two typical sugar-beet growing districts in France and 

 Germany, and are not apparently at a disadvantage in this 

 respect. 



Warmth, sunlight, sufficient soil moisture, and a supply 

 of soluble food material, are requisite to enable the plant 

 to manufacture chlorophyll, assimilate carbon dioxide 

 from the atmosphere for the manufacture of starch, and to 

 maintain the necessary transpiration. 



Soils. — As regards soil the sugar-beet may be compared 

 with the mangold, but owing to the cost of harvesting it 

 cannot be grown profitably on the heavy clays on which the 

 latter crop is frequently so successful. It is suited for good, 

 open, deep loams which are cool without being wet, also for 

 sandy and calcareous loams if moderately supplied with 

 humus. A good mellow soil adapted for growing barley and 

 swedes, easy to work, and readily penetrated by roots, if in a 

 suitable climate, would grow sugar-beet well. It is important 

 that the soil be deep, porous, easily worked, and well drained. 



The sugar-beet appears to be very responsive to lime, and 

 good results are obtained on chalk soils, while on the Con- 

 tinent moorland soils are found to be quite suitable for sugar- 

 beet cultivation after being ameliorated by the use of sand aud 

 by draining. Experiment gave the following results : — 



Yield 

 per 

 acre. 



Sandy soil 76 per cent, quartz 



Clay 47 „ clay 



Chalk 74 chalk 



Moorland soil 68 ,, peat 



o - 8i ton from 15,140 plants 



Mixture of equal parts of the above soils 



089 ,, 12,140 

 1 5 '68 tons from 16,110 

 13-16 „ 12,550 

 23'54 „ 15,870 



