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



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from Knauer's Imperial upwards of fifty years ago. It has 

 been much improved in quality until at the present day it 

 is one of the richest in sugar, and is also very productive. 

 The root is tapering, conical, and with rather a wide top, 

 which is sunk almost level with the surface of the soil ; for 

 the latter reason this variety is most suitable for deep open 

 soils in a good state of cultivation. The foliage is crisp, 

 abundant, and dull green in colour, the leaves being broad 

 and supported on short stout stalks. 



Vilmorin's Improved White is a rather small variety, at 

 times somewhat fibrous rooted, with an abundance of foliage, 

 abroad top, very red skin, and hard compact flesh. It is a 

 fair cropper, but contains a very high percentage of sugar, 

 often 16 to 18 per cent. 



Grey-topped White is a variety quite distinct from the two 

 foregoing in several respects. In the first place it is a heavy 

 cropper, and is only about two-thirds buried in the soil, this 

 fact rendering it suitable for the heavier types of soils, where 

 harvesting of deeply-buried varieties would be difficult and 

 costly. Secondly, its sugar content is low, about 7 to 12 

 per cent. It is rather oval in shape, the skin beneath the 

 soil rosy, and that above grey to bronze towards the top ; 

 the foliage is rather erect, and usually fine and light. 



It is stated by Knauer and Hollrung that a good variety of 

 sugar-beet should possess the following qualities : — (1) 

 Slender form, lightly drawn in about half-way down, with a 

 moderate length for the whole bulb ; (2) Somewhat spirally 

 twisted root grooves (Wurzelrille) ; (3) A small top, not 

 appearing above the surface of the soil, and resembling a 

 truncated cone of about 45 degrees gradient; (4) Short- 

 stemmed leaves, which are not too small, but rather broad, 

 lightly waved, and standing at an angle of about 45 degrees 

 from the bulb ; (5) Little susceptibility to conditions leading 

 to "bolting"; (6) Considerable power of retaining the greater 

 part of the non-sugars in the leaves ; (7) Exceptional disposi- 

 tion to build up material, especially the separation of sugar. 



After-Cultivation . — When the seedlings begin to show well 

 in the rows the horse-hoe should be put to work as in the 

 case of mangolds, and thereafter the more the horse and hand 

 hoes are kept at work the better. Kiehl has shown, indeed, 



