On the Chemistry of Silesian Sugar-Beets. 
351 
The chief requisites in soil upon which this crop is intended 
to be raised, are a sufficient depth and ready penetrability by the 
plant. A good friable deep turnip-loam, and all soils on which 
potatoes grow to perfection, are perhaps the most eligible of all 
for the growth of beet-roots. A moderate or even large amount 
of clay, far from being an undesirable element, is very useful for 
this crop, provided the land is well worked and the clay has 
become friable by exposure to the air, and by general good 
management. 
It is sometimes stated that beet-root can only be grown to per- 
fection on light, very porous, and naturally poor soils ; but this is 
a great mistake, for on naturally poor sandy land sugar-beet 
cannot be grown economically. Such land requires to be pre- 
viously well dunged in the autumn, and to be liberally treated 
with superphosphate at the time of sowing, before it will yield a 
paying crop of beets. On the other hand, there is no soil so 
well suited for beets as a good, well-worked, deeply cultivated, and 
thoroughly drained clay-loam ; or, in other words, a soil con- 
taining a good deal of clay, with a fair proportion of sand. 
Most good clay-loams contain sufficient lime to meet the require- 
ment of the beet-root crop. Many light soils, on the other hand, 
being poor in lime, are much improved by the application of 
clay, marl, chalk, or quicklime previous to ploughing up the 
land in autumn. On land deficient in lime the sugar-beet is apt 
to get fingered and toed, and hence care should be taken, before 
taking the land in hand for the cultivation of this crop, to ascer- 
tain whether it contains a fair proportion of lime. 
The subsoil has an important influence on this, as on all root- 
crops. It should be sufficiently friable to allow the ready pene- 
tration of the roots, and be thoroughly well drained ; for it is vain 
to hope to grow successfully good sugar-beets on land resting on 
a stiff, cold, and partially drained subsoil. In dealing with 
rather heavy land particular attention ought to be paid to 
autumn-cultivation. Deeply ploughing in autumn and stirring 
the subsoil without turning it up, and above all steam -cultivation, 
are some of the means of preparing such land for beet-roots. In 
short, the same rules which apply to the proper cultivation of 
the soil for other root crops should guide the farmer in preparing 
his land for sugar-beets. 
Place of the Beet-root in the Rotation. — On the continent beet is 
always looked upon as a fallow crop. There are various modes 
of growing it in different countries, dependent on the soil, the 
climate, and the requirements of the markets, but in all cases it 
is considered good farming to let it bot^ follow and precede 
a corn crop. Beet succeeds best after winter wheat, well-dunged. 
Clover or seeds, on the contrary, should not precede beets, for 
