46 Experiments in the Growth of Sugar Beet. 



were received in 143 instances. Many of these, however, 

 proved to be experiments conducted on very small plots 

 of land, and it was only in cases, where the surface under 

 experiment was not less than a quarter ol an acre, that further 

 details were requested as to results. 



The Committee obtained this further information from 65 

 persons, who furnished particulars as regards 77 separate plots 

 sown with beetroot in 1898, in thirty counties in Great 

 Britain. In 13 cases the crops were returned as failures, 

 attributed mainly to excessive drought. In 17 other instances 

 the information furnished was defective as regards the weight 

 of the crop or the analysis of the roots. 



As regards the system of cultivation, the date of sowing, 

 the quantity of seed sown, and the method of lifting 

 pursued by the experimenters the Committee state that the 

 operations usual in the case of mangolds, such as ploughing, 

 working, rolling, horse and hand hoeing, etc., were applied 

 to the cultivation of the beetroot; the date of sowing was 

 from the latter end of April to the beginning of May ; the 

 quantity of seed sown was about 8 or 10 lbs. per acre ; and 

 in lifting, the roots were either forked, hand-pulled, or spade- 

 dug. In some cases, owing to the extreme hardness of the 

 ground, the pickaxe had to be employed. 



The information which was furnished in reply to the 

 questions put to the experimenters respecting the cost of 

 growing the beetroot was not quite uniform in scope or 

 complete in form ; but the Committee state that while it 

 showed the cost of growing sugar beet and mangold to be 

 approximately the same, it may be regarded as certain that 

 the cost of growing the former is more than that of growing" 

 mangold in respect of at least two items — viz., the cleaning 

 of the land and the lifting and the cleaning of the roots. 



The unusual meteorological conditions which prevailed last 

 year are duly mentioned by the Committee, who state :— "It 

 should be noted that the season of 1898 was of an exceptional 

 character and probably favourable to the growth of sugar- 

 beet, although in many districts there was a drought which 

 practically killed the plants. Very cold weather was 

 experienced during May and June, but during the important 



