iU THE TEOPICAL A&MCULTURISll [Jan. 1, 1903. 
TONGA BEAN— I. 
Nov. 29. 
i)EAR SiE,— In your issue of 25th inst., I 
see a letter from " Visitor" enquiring about 
the "Tongau" bean. The jat, I advertised, 
is a vegetable, a very heavy cropper and 
when cooked is of a more delicate flavour 
than the " French " bean. — I am. Sir, yours 
faithfully, "SEEDS" MADULKBLE. 
NO. II. 
The Central Seed Stores, Kandy, Nov. 28. 
Sir, — Your correspondent " Visitor," 
wishes to know the merits of the Tongan 
Bean, and I trust the following will be of 
some use.— Yours truly, 
E. SPEARMAN HUGHES. 
The wonderful Tongan Bean is a strong evergreen 
perennial climber, producing immense quantities 
of large flat beans of excellent quality, which are 
used like French Beans. Ifc is estimated that, in a 
moderately warm situation and good soil, two 
plants of this bean will supply a small family with 
this delicious and wholesome vegetable for nine 
months in the year. The plant is also very orna- 
mental, and may be utilised for covering un- 
sightly objects. It requires to be sown rather 
late. The bean should be picked very young and 
boiled whole. Although ib is a perennial, it is 
advisable to sow one or two beans every year, for 
though the old plants come into bearing much 
earlier than the young ones, still they do not bear 
such heavy crops nor the best beans. As the seeds 
are very slow to germinate, they should be soaked 
one or two hours in warm water before sowing. 
CULTIVATION OF BEET, SWISS 
CHARD, &c. 
Himalaya Seed Stores, Mussoorie, N.W.P., 
Nov. 29. 
Dear Sib, — I am enclosing a copy of a 
special Circular which I have just published 
on the "Cultivation of Sugar Beets, &c." and 
shall be glad if you will give a notice of it in 
one of the issues of your valuable paper. 
I think that the articles treated of in the 
Circular would be found useful by District 
officials, (fee. as famine crops, for feeding the 
millions who are, from time to time, thrown 
on the hands of Government at Relief Works, 
&c., and would be infinitely moi-e valuable 
than the Carrot seed, which, a few years ago, 
was bought at great expense in Europe and 
ultimately thrown away, as the Natives 
would not make use of it. — Yours faithfully, 
W. W. JOHNSTONE, 
General Manager, 
NOTES ON THE CULTIVATION OP SUGAR 
BEET, GIANT SEAKALB BEET AND 
SWISS CHABD. 
Some foar years ago experiments were commenced 
at the Central Jail, Coimbatore, with a view of in- 
trodncing somo new kiuds of vegetables to supplement 
those ordinarily grown in the Madras Presidency. A 
small consignment of Sogar Beet seed was obtained 
from Australia through a gentleman at Ootacamund. 
The seed was received in October and planted at once, 
and the result was sufficiently satisfactory to en- 
courage further trials. The following year, seed was 
obtained from the Himalaya Seed Stores, Mussoorie, 
^nd the result was highly satisfactory. The roots 
have since been grown year by year in several Jail 
gardens of this Presidency, and have proved a valuable 
addition to the Jail dietary. 
SUGAR BEET. 
The method of cultivation adopted at Coimbatore 
is as follows. The plot which is intended to grow 
the Beet is dug to a depth of about 18 inches and 
heavily macured with ordinary farm yard manure, 
about 2 months before the time for sowing the seed. 
When the June rains commence, the plot is laid out 
in beds for irrigation, and the seed sown in drills 1 
foot apart, the young plants are subsequently thinned 
out to 1 foot between each, and during dry weather 
are irrigated once a week. The Beet is said to 
absorb a large amount of nitrogen and in some places 
it may be advisable to use nitrate of soda and super- 
phosphate of lime as a manure, but here it has not 
been found necessary, owing to the large amount of 
lime in the soil. The practice on the Continent is to 
have the roots nine inches apart each way. This 
keeps them small and uniform in size, a matter of 
much importance where the roots are grown for 
sugar. When grown as vegetable for prisoners, uni- 
formity of size is of no importance, whilst the larger 
they are, the greater the weight of vegetable produced. 
The roots grown by Mr. Proudlock in the Nilghiris, 
varied from 4 lb. 12 oz. to 5 lb. whilst those grown 
on the Continent vary from IJ to 3 lb * No particular 
attention has been paid to the weight of the roots 
grown here, and they have varied very much in size, 
owing to the fact that seedlings thinned out from the 
beds are planted in other beds. These do not as a 
rule form large or well shaped roots. It is a com- 
mon thing here to find roots weighing from 10 to 
12 lb., and the average weight of a well grown plot 
would certainly exceed 6 lb. It seems likely that the 
large size of the roots grown here is due to regular 
irrigation, and to free working up of the soil between 
the roots, added to the fact that the- soil here seems 
particularly suited to all plants of the Beetroot family. 
The crop takes about 6 months to mature, but for the 
purpose for which they are grown here, the roots can 
of course be utilised before they attain full maturity. 
It is difficult to store roots satisfactorily ia this 
country but they have been kept for upwards of three 
months, by being heaped in a store room and after 
a few days, when the heat has escaped, being covered 
with dry sand. The kind of Sugar Beet ordinarily 
grown here is Vilmorin's Improved, but there are 
several other kinds, equally good, all of which can 
be obtained from the Himalaya Seed Stores, 
MANGEL WDRZEL. 
Mangel Wurzel has also been grown here succesB- 
fully under the same conditions as the Sugar Beet, 
some roots having attained a weight of close upon 
20 lb. 
If used for feeding cattle, Sugar Beet and Mangel 
Wurzel, should be well boiled and;mixed with other food. 
GIANT SEAKALE BEET. 
This vegetable was first tried in the Jail garden in 
1898. It is a large, comparatively new variety of 
the Spinach Beet, distinguished by an abnormally 
large white mid rib. This vegetable has been grown 
here with great success. It is easy of cultivation 
and gives a heavy crop in a short time. The seeds 
are sown in sheltered seed beds, and the young 
plants bedded to 15 inches each way, when large 
enough to handle. The plant will grow in any good 
garden soil and if in rich soil attains a very large 
size. The practice here is to allow the plants to attain 
such a size that they completely cover the ground. 
The leaves are then carefully removed, with the ex- 
ception of a few of the tender ones in the centre. 
The soil is then dug up round the plants, which in 
a short time give a second crop. This plant, like all 
the Beetroot family, requires lime with manure, 
unless the soil itself contains a large percentage of lime- 
* Mr. Ponlfcer'a reports on Sugar Beet grown on the 
Nilghiris. 
