50 
Report on the Af/riculturc of Behjium. 
yield of clover liad been nearly doubled, because formerly at 
least two-thirds of the plants were lost in the winter. 
On sugar-beet farms the seed-course rarely, if ever, consists 
entirely of red clover. The following examples will suffice : on 
a five-course farm one-half was sown with red clover, and the 
remainder with white; on a six-course farm in another district 
one-half was Trifolium incarnatnm ; and on M. Dumont's farm 
at Chassart (four-course), described by Mr. James Howard, M.P., 
in his paper read before the Farmers' Club, one-half the course 
was red clover, and the other half white Dutch and rye-grass, 
ploughed in as green manure in February, preparatory to the land 
being sown with flax. The yield on such farms is also less 
than on those previously described, and cannot be put at more 
than from 2 to 2^ tons of clover-hay per acre. 
Sugar-beet land is much stronger and better than the light 
sandy land which yields such enormous crops of clover. But the 
sand-land farmers generally use more liquid-manure than the 
others ; they are also, as a rule, more careful in dressing the 
clover (usually in March) either with town manure or Dutch 
ashes ; and on the farm (good loam) where the seeds were har- 
rowed in so deeply, ammoniacal water from the gas-works was 
very largely employed. Whatever the cause, we continually saw 
remarkable crops of red clover associated Avith a terribly ex- 
haustive course of culture, and consequent light yields of grain, 
on poor sandy land. 
8. Sugar-Beet. — The ordinary mode of cultivation is to 
plough 10 inches deep in November, and to put farmyard- 
manure in the furrows to the amount of about 10 tons per acre ; 
the land is then rolled* by the majority of farmers, the idea 
being that a finer and more consolidated tilth is thereby secured. 
Early in spring the land is ploughed to the depth of 6 inches, 
and soon afterwards either lightly ploughed or scarified. Sowing 
commences as soon in April as the weather will allow, generally 
about the end of the month. Nothing is gained by too early 
sowing, but, on the contrary, it often entails loss ; for, if frosty 
Aveather sets in after the plants are up, they are immediately 
ploughed in, and the land is resown on the return of warmer 
weather. In " awkward " seasons it is necessary sometimes to 
resort to this practice two or three times, as plants checked by 
frost when they are young invariably run to seed towards the 
end of the summer. Sugar-manufacturers do not like guano to 
be applied to the land for beets, as it tends to give a bulky crop 
poor in sugar. But as the farmers are paid lor their roots by 
weight, without regard to the percentage of sugar ^they contain, 
* This seemed to us a very injurious practice, because the surface becomes 
" caked" after the first shower. 
