The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-05-16
The Culture Of the Sugar Beet for Sugar.

The, ,beet-sugsr enterprise in Mains
seems ina promising way, and the far
mers can receive, this coming season
4 bencOt from tho attempt. Thch tompa
1 ny, in orsIor 10 encourage. the growing
OF bceis, pay the uniform price of S5.7i
a ton for the beet, when delivered al
any depot in the state; and this price
makes-the growing OF beets the mos
profitable of farm crops, provided the
culture be understood, and attention DC
Igiyen TO the conditions tor success.
Tlp icropling capacity Of the sugar.
beet IS not as great as that of common
mangolds; and yet it isl sufficiently
large, and varies sufficiently, to offer
inducements towards card in cuhiva-
ton, and the exercise of SILL. In ST.
lesia, the average crop is ffom nine to
nine and one-half tons per acrc; inSax-
ony, from eleven and three-tourths TO
| twelve tons per acre, and exceptionally
fifteen tons in France, from nineteen
to twenty tons per acre. In Massachn-
sets, premium crops have been report
ed from nix hundred to nine hundred
and forty bushels per acre, or say cigh-
| teen to twcnty-eight ions. In Maine,
last year, we have heard of crops from
twenty to thirty tons, or at that rae,
per acre.
The expense of growing, nccording
to Aohard, is about sixty day work of
man per acre, and in Russiais given at
about forty days labor of man. THE
items of labor on the crop proper seem
to be The sowing, singing, foilr hoeings,
and harvesting This should be done
largely by machine, although hand la
Dor should not DO begrudgelb when re-
quired by the condition of the crop.
The beet is plant which, TO be prof
itably grown, requires careful prepa-
ration of The land. The soil Should be
made deep by ploughing. be rendered
friable by repeated strings, and the
surface should be formed into smooth
seed-bed. III testimony,i is to lie bclicv-
ed, scarcely too much attention can be
given to these preliminary operations.
The best soil is a deep, mellow, sandy
loan, with a permeable subsoil. The
land requires to be well MANFRED, and
the manure we'll mingled with the soil !;
and an additional supply of CONNER
lcial fertilizer, as rich superphosphate,
should he furnished TO the drills, along
with the seed. About sixteen pounds
of seed per acre; and this should be
planted in drills, about eight inches
apart In the row, and the drills suffc-
iently far apart TO admit of one horse
with implement to pass between. The
nearer these drills are, the better for
the sugar-yield, MS the beets are dwarf
ed by crowding, and the smaller beets,
say from one TO one and onc-half
pounds, are richer in sugar than those
of two to three pounds weight. 1t will
always be found desirable to plant this
seed with a machine, of which there
ARE many good kinds to be obtained.
II is always well to plant considerable
seed, so as to escape accidents. When
the beets are thinned, as they should
be when about three-fourths inch high,
the surplus plants can be removed more
economically than new plants can be
grown in the vacant spaces. The depth
| to plant is from one-half to one inch.
In DIR. Gr9yen's experiments, the
plants from seed planted from five
Fights to one and one-eight inches deep
were always the most vigorous. The
time for termination depends upon the
mean temperature, and various other
circumstances varying from three to
twenty-five days.
There is usually one hoeing or cul-
tivating of the field before thinning,
and then civilizations after thinning
Like the corn plant, the beet plant re-
quires frequent stirring of the soil dur
ing growth; and unless this be attend
ed to, the farmer need not expect sue
cess. 1t is maxim in Germany, that
"The beet requires much hoeing," and
again, "HOeing makes sugar" Yet
care must be exercised not to contn-
he the hoeing too late in the season.
The beet plant usually makes leaves
before it makes much root, and the
leaves ELABORATE the carbonic acia fr ron,
store the product in the root. Co., Hence
there are two stages of growth to be
observed-the first that of leaf growth,
the second that of root growth. Dur
ing the firstastage, frequent cultivation
is very beneficial; but when the leaves
are formed, then all cultivation should
at once stop. H
In lifting the bcets et harvest, spade
is used to loosen the earth and PRIV ND
the root, whichi is then freed from earth
by Knocking two roots together, and
then thrown into a pile, the leaves hay
ing been first cut off by a strong blow
with long knife. The piles are then
Immediately covered with leaves for
protection from the sun, and TO prevent
the drying effect of wind, so that the
beets may not become wilted, which is
prejudical to their value TO the manu-
tacturcr, as well as diminishing in
weight for the grower, who sells BY the
ton, and is. therefore equally Interested
in preventing evaporation from taking
place. Machinery has also been used
for the digging, and its action is well
spoken of.
When the pulp from the factory is re-
turned to the soil, through the feeding
to cattle and using the dung, the beef |
crop is not exhausting; and a compe-
tent authority, r.. II. Fuhling, asserts |
that the substances restored to the soil |
by the manure resulting from the feed
ing of two thousand, three hundred |
pounds of hay, together with the ref
use or pulp, is sufficient to restore the
fertility which the average crop has re-
moved. - ~ ~
Indeed, experience shows that a SILL
in the drill should gener-
ally be used, not only TO hasten tile ear
y growth of The plant SO as to push il
ahead of dangers Incident to the Young
state. but it also acts specifically in in /