The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-02-16
Table Beets.

The culture of table beetS, writes a cores
pOrdent of the New England Times, differs
from that of sugar beets or other beets
grown for fodder, in this that the table beet
Is grown quickly upon very rich land, and
is pulled for use before it attains large size
il Suffered to grow until il is large, the beet
becomes comparatively tough and woody,
. and is inferior in quality to smaller sized
ones. In order to prevent their being too
large il is usual TO clear the land OF the
early ones in July, and to SOW the seed late
for winter use, ABOUT July l to 10.
The best land for beets is fine sandy
loan, well enriched with fine compost. The
land is manured in fall, and prepared very
early for the early crop, as soon as 1t will
work mellow in April, for the beets are
hardy and will endure pretty severe frost
without harm. A stiff, or clayey soil will
not grow smooth beets, they will grow
rough and shapeless. The land for the early
crop is usually thrown up in ridges or beds
with small plough in order to receive the
warmth of the sun rapidly. The ridges are
usually made three feet apart and sown
with two rows of beets to each ridge after
raking smooth. Between the rows of beets
horseradish is often planted OH top of the
ridge: the beets are cleared off before the
horseradish begins to grow large, and they
do not interfere. Melons, squashes and Gel
cry are also grown after early beets as a
second crop.
For very early use, the Egyptian beet
comes first, but it is only used in small
quantities, as 1t IS inferior to the Dewing,
which is only a few days later. The same
seed. viz. the Dewing. is sown for late crop
and winter use about July l, on land just
cleared of a crop of garden greens or peas.
The land should be fine and sandy, and well
enriched. 1t is plowed by swivel pillow. and
raked by hand to level the surface and the
rows are sown by machine, fifteen inches
-. -, a. 81.
inches apart when about two inches high.
II is impossible 10 make beets come up as
regularly as many other seeds, since each
seed" as we call it, is not a seed, but pod
containing three to five or six seeds. These
pods are very irregular in shape, and are
apt TO clog the machine, causing gaps in the
rows unless great care is used in sowing
them. The space between the rows is kept
clean by the frequent use of the scuffle hoe
until the beets shade the ground Two
hand weddings are required and at the first
one the thinning is done; the hoe will be
needed four or five times.
1would suggest to those farmers who are
intending TO grow sugar beets for the factory
next year that they try a small patch after
the seed should be sown early In May, and
the plants thinned so as to stand six or eight
inches apart. 1t will cost rather more e
run the scutile hoe than a cultivator, and il
can. only be used on land free from stones
and sodsi but / am satisfied that much
heavier growth OF beets can be raised with
rows fifteen inches apart than can be done
with rows two and one-half feet apart, as re
,quired when horse cultivation is practiced
Whether the increased yield would pay FOL
the increased cost can best be answered by
each one after a trial. Beets are pulled il
October, before hard frost, the tops wrun,
off by hand, the large ones and very small
ones sorted out for the cows, and only tn,
medium-sized ones saved for the table or fo
market The best size is that of man
fist, or little smaller