214 



Cultivation of Beet. 



Two contrary systems of management are thus advocated on 

 different soils. On light land, the manure being applied imme- 

 diately before the seed is sown, is attended with great advantage ; 

 on heavy and retentive land this system cannot be adopted with 

 any certainty, on account of the difficulty attending the cultivation 

 of the land. It may be alleged that it is a waste of manure to 

 cover it in the soil some months previously to the sowing of the 

 seed. There is some truth in this remark, but it is only appli- 

 cable to light lands, in which manure decomposes rapidly, and 

 where there is no difficulty in obtaining a fine and garden-like 

 surface ; but the main point in the cultivation of roots on a heavy 

 soil is a pulverized seed-bed. If weeds spring up on the land that 

 has been ridged and manured during the winter, they may be de- 

 stroyed by harrowing or scarifying, taking care not to go deep 

 enough to bring the manure on the surface. If considered neces- 

 sary, a light double mould-board plough drawn between the ridges 

 will restore them to their former shape : and they will be ready 

 for rolling down with a light roller, either for drilling or dibbling 

 the seed. 



We have mentioned only the ridge preparation ; but the system 

 of autumn preparation and manuring is equally applicable to 

 drilling on the stetcli or flat. Many beet growers, who pursue 

 the practice of ploughing-in the manure in the spring, prefer 

 growing on the flat, as they are more likely to secure a plant on a 

 cloddy flat surface than they are on a ridge of clods ; the manure 

 is also more equally distributed over the land than on the ridge, 

 consequently the following crop will derive an equal benefit from 

 it. The latter is not much drawback to the ridge system, as the 

 manure will be mixed by ploughing across the ridges for the suc- 

 ceeding crop. We have mentioned the manner of sowing beet on 

 light or mixed soil, and this will refer also to strong land. Though 

 generally in this neighbourhood dibbling is practised on strong 

 land, this is done with the common iron dibble, with which a man, 

 with a boy dropping, Avill do an acre in a day. Farmers in various 

 parts of the country use a single or double wheel, with dibs fixed 

 on the circumference, and others a flat frame of wood, with a 

 number of dibs ; but, though these methods facilitate the opera- 

 tion, yet they are all deficient in the twist of the wrist given by 

 the man with his dibbling iron, by which the hole is prevented 

 from filling up directly it is made."''' Many recommend steeping 

 the seed before it is planted ; but perhaps the only case in which 

 it can be adopted with propriety, is when circumstances prevent 

 the seed being sown at a seasonable time, as the growth of the 



* By using a drop-drill, or a larger dibber for making the holes, arti- 

 ficial manure may be deposited economically beneath the seed. 



