160 Manufacture of Sugar from Beet-Root. 



We ought, however, to bear in mind that the corn crop usually 

 occupies the soil for an entire year, and that the root crop is 

 sown in April or May, and is taken off the ground in October or 

 November, at latest ; thus offering to the farmer an opportunity 

 of having some early keep, or even a crop of peas or early vegeta- 

 bles, if he live in the vicinity of a large city, and is disposed to 

 follow the continental practice of transplanting his mangold- 

 wurzel from his raising-beds to his fields. At the same time we 

 must recollect that the extra expenses of tillage are not entirely 

 lost : the long tap root of the mangold- wurzel seeks its food far 

 below the line of ordinary cultivation; in harvesting this is 

 broken off and left in the soil, and the act of pulling up the crop 

 occasions a disturbance of the soil, which is advantageous to the 

 succeeding crop. In topping, cleaning, and trimming the roots, 

 too, a large quantity of organic matter is left on the field, which 

 must in its decay assist in fertilising the soil. 



If we look at the relative amount of mineral matter removed 

 by the two crops, we shall find that, although the one removes a 

 bulk of 23 tons, and the other only a iittle more than 2 J tons, their 

 mineral constituents differ but slightly in weight — the one being 

 about 3981bs. in the roots and 1051bs. in the leaves per acre, and 

 the other about 3651bs. per acre. If the mangold- wurzel is used 

 for the purpose of sugar-making by the grower of it, then the 

 whole of the mineral or inorganic matters would remain on the 

 farm, as the substance abstracted (the sugar) is composed entirely 

 of organic elements, which are all derived from the atmosphere. 



The following analysis of the mangold-wurzel will perhaps be 

 of service in estimating the real chemical value of the crop : — 







Tops. 



Root. 









2-57 







, 5-15 



3-08 









3-37 









18-32 







, 8-65 



1-95 









2-11 



Peroxide of iron 





•96 



•6 









24*79 



Soda 





. 7-01 



13-75 









29-41 



Per centage of ash . 





. 1-7 



•886 



The leaves of the plant also appear to possess a far higher value, 

 both as a feeding and as a manuring substance, than we are 

 accustomed to assign to them. Boussingault (Annales de 

 Chimie) gives us an organic analysis of the roots and the leaves 

 of the plant \ a comparison between their respective compositions 



* Way, in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal. 



