American Pocket Library of Useful Knowledge/The Sugar Beet
THE SUGAR BEET.
BY JAMES RONALDSON, PHILADELPHIA.
In the feeding cattle, milk cows, and stock of all kinds, every farmer who his tried the Sugar Beet, knows that it is equal to any, and superior to most of the feeds that are used. Its culture is attended with little expense, and in our dry climate is more certain of making a good crop than any other of the roots grown for the purpose of feeding stock.
A gentleman interested in the growing of sugar-cane in Louisiana, states that a crop of Sugar Beets is found to be superior to all other crops as a refresher and renovator of the land after the fourth crop, that is, the fourth year of sugar-cane. If it proves suitable for making sugar from in the cane latitude, the making of sugar will assume an entirely new character; and in Louisiana, the boiling season will commence with the beet, and close with the cane, whereby the same capital that is invested in the works, machinery, &c., connected with the boiling house, will prove a great saving on this portion of the planter’s capital.
As yet the process of extracting sugar from beets has not been made sufficiently perfect to obtain the whole saccharine matter as in the case of the sugar-cane, therefore the residue forms excellent food for cattle.
Choice of Ground.–Beet thrives in the soil suited to the potato. In the absence of manure the roots will be small, but where they grow fresh and healthy, it has been found that small plants yield a large proportion of sugar; but this by no means makes up for the want of mass.
Land essentially stiff clay is not suitable for beets, because the seed germinates badly, and the root becomes forked and rises too much above the surface, where it becomes hard and reedy. One of the evils attending forked roots is, that stones, gravel, and earth get enveloped in the interstices, and injure the machine, when the object is to make sugar. Clay soils are improved by deep and frequent ploughing and harrowing: the manures best suited to this kind of ground, are half-rotted straw, fresh stable dung, leaves, &c.
Preparation of the Ground.–Here, as in all other departments of the farming business, much of the success depends on the skill and judgment of the farmer. In many cases three ploughings will be necessary, and one of these ploughings should be before winter, that the turned-up soil may be mellowed by the frost; the last ploughing has to be in the spring immediately before planting the seed; two ploughings in this country will be found sufficient; in all cases it should be well harrowed, and rolling will be an improvement that amply relays the expense. Deep ploughing is generally useful, but the farmer has to consider the nature of the substrata. It would be improper to turn up much of the poor clay or gravel bottom, and where the substrata is an open sand, deep ploughing is not required. Manure in which the process of fermentation has not advanced far, will answer best for beets, nevertheless all kinds are useful; but the half-rotten best divides the soil and suffers the roots freely to expand.
Of Sowing in Beds.–By this method the whole of the seed is sown on a small portion of land compared with what it is intended to occupy; these plants will be fit to pull up and plant out where they are finally to remain, in a month or six weeks from the time of sowing; this planting is performed by means of a dibble with which boles are made in the ground, always a little deeper than the length of the plant that is to be put into them, and with this dibble the earth must be carefully pressed close to the root. This mode of sowing should be thought of only where seed is scarce, the quantity to be sown not great, and labour easily procured.
Broad Cast.–This manner is the simplest. Six pounds of seed will be required where two and a half or three would have been enough when planted in drills by the hand, and the produce is never as great as by the following method:
Rows or Drills.–The little furrows into which the seeds are to be dropped are made by a harrow, having the teeth at the distance one from another that the rows of beets are intended to be from each other, and the seed is dropped two or three into the drills at the distance of twelve to eighteen inches apart from each other. After the planting is finished, the seeds are covered by having a light harrow with plenty of teeth in it drawn over the ground. In this way there is a great saving of seed and the plants are regularly spaced. Four boys will plant an acre in a day. By using a drill drawn by a horse, the labour is very much abridged and the work will be expedited. This machine is very important to those who plant large fields. In fixing the distance that is to be between the rows, reference should be had to the kind of horse-hoe that is to be used in keeping the crops free from weeds. When the plants are far from each other the roots will grow to a large size, and the contrary will result from planting them close. The seed should be planted at the depth of from one to two inches.
Time of Sowing.–This depends on the position of the place and the nature of the soil; as a general rule, the earlier the better. Provided the land is dry and in proper order, early sowing is particularly important when the object is to make sugar, because the roots arrive sooner at maturity and allow the process of crushing to commence early.
Of Hoeing.–Few plants suffer more than the beet from neglect, and the baneful influence of weeds in the first stages of its vegetation. The ground therefore has to be kept free of weeds, and it should be kept mellow during the plant’s development. Beets require one or two hand thinnings, and as many hand hoeings. The first of the hoeings should be about when four or five of the leaves have put out, the second in from three to five weeks afterwards. All the plants save one must be pulled up at the time of hoeing; if not properly thinned, there will be a cluster of leaves, but very small roots; where there are blanks, they should be filled up with those pulled up from where there are too many. After the rows have been carefully freed from weeds and properly thinned, the horse-hoe, cultivator, or drill harrow can be advantageously run between the rows. After each horse-hoeing, remove the earth thrown on by the harrow, &c. If any of the beets shoot out into the seed stalk, cut off these stalks, because this growth would be at the expense of the root.
Harvesting.–The evidences of the plant being ripe are a falling down of the leaves, and those of a bright green, turning yellow and brown. The influence of drought may bring on these appearances; the observing farmer will understand when this change is caused by heat, or want of moisture; indeed he has to attend to the weather, and the appearance of the approach of winter, that he may take advantage of all the crowing season, and at the same time not be too late in harvesting, and thereby expose the crop to be injured by frost. The roots should be pulled by hand, or assisted by the spade when necessary. Shake the earth off them, and be careful not to strike one against another or in any way bruise them: bruising disposes them to rot. Cut off the tops, being careful not to cut the beet. The leaves being cut off lessens the disposition of the root to vegetate, and it prepares them to be housed. The beets should lay on the ground until they are dry before they are housed.
Preservation.–The roots must not be left long on the ground exposed to the air, heat, and moisture; much heat or cold are both found detrimental, as a heat of fifty-six to sixty degrees Fahrenheit, in damp weather, will produce a fermentation sufficient to reduce the quantity of saccharine mailer; and on the other hand, beets freeze very readily, so that only a few degrees below thirty-two will dispose them to rot.
The best aired cellar is not better for securing the beet than a judiciously made pit. It is most prudent to make them large, because if a part of the contents of a pit begins to spoil, the disease will spread through the whole mass. They may be made from four to five feel wide, and eight, ten, or twelve long. One to two feet is deep enough; this hole is to be filled with beets, and piled up until they form a ridge, and the whole is to be covered with the earth dug from the pit; a drain should be cut round the heap, to carry off all water, it being of importance that the beet be kept dry, and for this reason, ground naturally dry should be selected for the pits: perhaps in our severe climate it may be necessary to spread a little straw or corn-stalks on the outside of the heaps, to keep out the frost; if put inside, it might rot and spoil the beets; and it may be useful to open the pits from time to time to air and keep them fresh, and if any are observed to spoil, they should be carefully taken out. The preserving of beets is the most difficult of all the branches connected with them.
Growing of the Seed.–It is only in the second year that it produces seed. The proper time for choosing the roots from which the seed is to be produced next year is when taking up the crop; these should be healthy, somewhat above the medium size in length and thickness; well formed and no ways forked, and of a fine light colour (if for sugar, perfectly white); they should be kept through winter in sand or dry earth, and placed in a temperate barn or cellar equally guarded from the influence of heat and cold. They should be planted out in March, or so soon as the land is in good order, and at the distance of two or three feet apart: the branches being liable to split off, and break down, have to be supported by slicks or frames. When the seed is ripe, which will generally be in September, the stalks are to be cut off and tied into bundles to dry, and then the seed is beaten off or removed from the stems by hand. The small seeds towards the outer end of the branches do not ripen well. The next process is to expose the seed to the sun, and then it is put into sacks and kept in a dry place, where mice and vermin shall not have access to it. The average yield of plants in France is from four to six ounces of good seed.
General Remarks.–The Beet is found, under some circumstances, to degenerate, the seed of the white plant producing yellow and red roots: this tendency may be checked by changing the seed from clay to sandy, and from sandy to clay soils. The seed, if carefully preserved from moisture, insects, and vermin, will keep for several years; but after four years, it will not be prudent to sow it. When the object is to make sugar, care should be taken to have seed that will produce white roots; and early sowing will afford the opportunity of commencing the crushing and boiling at an early period. The early bruisings produce the largest proportion of sugar.
When the Beet is employed in feeding cattle, one of the effects will be, to produce more and richer manure, and this will place in the farmer’s power the entire command of his farm; he can do with it whatever he pleases. Every encouragement is held out for the culture of beet. It being a green crop, draws much of its nourishment from the atmosphere; and in place of exhausting the land, leaves it in fine order, for any crop the farmer may choose to put on it. Beets in no way interfere with the cultivation of wheat, clover, barley, Indian corn, potatoes, turnips, &c. With the aid of a few beets, the profitable effects of that most useful grain, Indian corn, will be greatly increased in feeding cattle. Calves fed with beefs or roots in their first winter, will generally be as good animals at the end of two years, as those that have been fed the first winter on dry food and corn, will be at the end of three years.