72 
Beet-root Distillery. 
latter end of September ; but this request is seldom complied 
with, as there is a saying that the root makes its weight in 
October. The delivery seldom commences before the 10th of 
October, and by the lOth of November all the crop must be 
under cover. 
The place occupied by the cultivation of mangolds in the 
rotative course of French agriculture varies according: to the 
pursuits of the agriculturists. If the farmer is a sugar manufac- 
turer, the breadth of roots he cultivates is naturally larger. In 
that case it occupies about two-fifths of his farm ; two-fifths are 
under white crops; and one-fifth under seeds. If, on the con- 
trary, the farmer is not a manufacturer, he cultivates roots only 
as an element of the four-course rotation, and follows pretty 
nearly the same system as is usual in England, with this differ- 
ence, that, as turnips are not cultivated in France, mangolds ex- 
clusively fill up the space allotted to both crops in this country. 
Owing to the want of proper manure, such as superphosphate 
and salt, and also to the imperfect manner in which the land is 
prepared, the average crop of mangold is not near so heavy in 
France as it is in England. In soils naturally fertile, or well 
tilled and abundantly manured, 25 tons of roots per acre are con- 
sidered a very heavy and unusual crop ; but the average does 
-not certainly exceed 16 tons per acre in the northern departments, 
and 12 tons elsewhere. 
The price usually paid by the sugar manufacturer has lately 
varied much. When the beet-root distilleries were flourishing, 
that is, when the vine disease had greatly enhanced the price of 
alcohol, mangolds were readily bought at 245. a Ion ; before 
that period the price did not exceed 12s. In 1857 the price 
was 2O5. ; in 185S, about 16s. ; and for 1859, 16s. are now offered. 
The pulp from which the saccharine juice has been extracted 
is equal to about 24 per cent, of the weight of the roots, and 
is considered better and more nutritive than an equal weight of 
roots for cattle. The manufacturers sell the pulp at about 12s. 
a ton, and it is readily bought at that price by the neighbouring 
farmers, who bring it back in their carts on their return from 
taking the roots to the factory. 
In those districts where there are no sugar manufacturers, the 
species of mangold cultivated is the yellow globe; it is there 
solely used as fodder, either raw, in which form it is generally 
cut up and mixed with chaff, or else macerated, fermented, or 
boiled, and then mixed with clover hay, vetches, oilcake, or the 
refuse of the mill-stones, such as bran, husks of grain, &c. 
The climate of the beet-root districts does not materially difTer 
from that of England. The temperature in winter ranges between 
4^ below zero up to 14^ above (centigrade), equal to 25^ to 57° 
