SUGAR BEET.

Southland Times, Issue 1021, 14 September 1868, Page 3

SUGAR BEET.

(From the Otago " Daily Times" 2Sch August.) The following particulars as to Sugar Beet and its Cultivation in Europe, as translated from a German Lexicon, have been received from the Home Agent of tbe. Province • Beet Eoot, a species of the common mangel wursseL is originally a native of Southern Europe, and was transplanted by the Spaniards into Holland. It is divided into food beet and sugar beet. The different kinds of food beet are the Burgundy beet (Brassica Symestris), &c, &c. To the su»ar beet belong to Silesian white beet (Brassica Alba), of middle size, and white stalks and white flesh ; the Quedlinburg red beet, the large yellow beet the large white beet, (Brassica lutea major), of medium size, longish j and p3ar-shaped, with greenish yellow stalk and yellow flesh : the yellow pear shaped beet, with black cellular flesh ; the - Imperial sugar beet, pear-shaped, slender flesh fine, and pure white. The best sugat beets are those which have a uniform shape, few fibres and lateral roots, firm flesh and small head ; that do not grow over the ground, and that yield a slightly colored sweet juice ; those with large green heads contain much salts, but little sugar. Beet root, for the manufacture of sugar, requires a deep, mouldy, loose, somewhat binding soil, neither too moist nor too dry — a mild climate, and a deep working of the ground, which must be free from weeds. It follows either after grain or potatoes, or itself. The best manure is a mixture of guano and Chili saltpetre, guano and oilcake, guano and bone-dust. It must not, however, be too strongly manured, otherwise the quantity of sugar is ; lessened. In autumn the ground must be wrought with the subsoil plough, and in spring ploughing .is repeated. After the field has been entirely harrowed and rolled, it must be drawn over crossways with the maker, and at a distance of 15 inches sown with seeds (10 pounds for lan acre) ; so. that the seeds are laid upon the marked cross. On each place are laid three to five seeds, which are covered one inch and a half high with earth. The beginning of May is the time for sowing. Before that the seeds are steeped for three days in a weak solution of spirit of nitre. As soon as the plants show themselves, the ground must be hoed, and this must be repeated whenever weeds appear, till the ground is hardened. Should more than one plant appear out of one hole, the weakest must be cut away. When the roots have grown to the thickness of a finger they must be earthed up. Each plant must be placed 14 to 16 inches from the other ; they thus take the form most adapted for producing sugar. The plant must not be leafed till 14 days before the harvest or gathering of them, which occurs when the lower leaves become strongly yellow and incline towards the ground (middle of October). Their harvest must take place in dry weather, before the setting in of frost. Immediately after the roots are taken up the leaves and crown,- or top, is cut off and cleaned from the adhering soil, rootlets, &c. The beet is best kept in heaps of pyramid shape, of from two to two and a half feet high, with the heads to the outside. At first these are covered with straw, and on the approach of frost with earth, the produce of the acre is on an average 170 centner (hundred weight) of beet. .For seed such beets are selected as have a spindle-shaped root, without prongs (or secondary roots).