without it, we think the more probable conjecture is, that the bees, in working the sides of the cells, desist upon arriving near the top, and thus leave that part thick, as it is found to be. The ordinary cells of a comb are of two sizes; those designed for the male larvæ being rather larger than those of the ordinary size in which the neuter larvæ are reared. The width of the former cells is about 3 lines, and that of the latter 23. A comb is always commenced with the small-sized cells. Hence, when the larger cells are constructed, instead of being opposed to three others, they encroach upon a fourth, and their bases are consequently composed of four plates instead of three: at first a minute lozenge-shaped piece is visible at the top of the basal part (fig. 17, a); this gradually increases in size as the one on the opposite side decreases, fig. 17, b. When the full size of the cell is attained, the top and bottom pieces (fig. 17, c, c) are equal; but as soon as a sufficient number of the larger cells is formed, the lower lozenge gradually decreases while the upper one (fig. 17, e, e) increases in size, until there are but three plates again visible (fig. 17, d, d). It has now been demonstrated that the cells of the first tiers on each side are pentagonal; that the bases of those on one side are each composed of two plates, while those of the other side are each composed of three plates; and that, according to the laws laid down, they could not have been otherwise now as this accords with all the accounts given of the proceedings in the construction of the comb, it seems to prove that the laws which we have laid down, as guiding their formation, are correct. : We have now followed the progress of the work until the commencement of the second tiers of cells: it is unnecessary to describe the formation of these and the following tiers. It is shown, that, according to certain laws, the first tiers of each side of the comb become pentagonal, and according to the same laws it is clear that the second and following tiers must become hexagonal; for the two sides forming the lower boundary of each cell of the first tier, also form the upper boundaries (or partitions) of two cells of the second tiers. As the upper part of the first tier is determined by the roof of the hive (represented by the horizontal line in diagram 14), so is the upper portion of the cells of the second tier determined by the lower portion of those of the first tier; thus, the upper portion of each cell of the second tiers being composed of two planes meeting at an angle, and the work continuing, as in the progress of the first tier, four more planes will be constructed to form the lower portion, and complete the hexagon. It is thus that all the ordinary cells of a comb are hexagonal, and we believe it is clearly shown that they could not be otherwise, according to the mode of proceeding in their construction. Their form depends entirely upon the commencement of the work, which necessarily throws the cells in such a position, that each cell must be surrounded by six others, and consequently have six sides, each side being the common partition of two cells; and, so long as the cells are of equal diameter, they must each be opposed to parts of three other cells on the opposite side of the comb, in such a way, that supposing the external surface of the bottom of each cell were hemispherical (which would be the case were the wax not removed from the interstices), each hemisphere would touch three others; but the wax being removed from the interstices and reduced to an equal thickness at all parts,-and the bases of the sides of a cell not being all in the same plane-the bottom of each cell is thus formed into three equal rhomboidal pieces in three different planes, the three angles at their junction being respectively the lowest parts, or the farthest removed from the mouth of the cell. In working the cells, the wax is always found a little thicker on the edges, thus giving additional strength to them. It has been asserted that this extra thickness is added upon the completion of the cells; but as we have never observed a cell, even though in a state of progress, It is almost always found that the excavations for cells, formed by different insects, in whatever situations they may be, are exactly proportioned to their size. Hence it is extremely difficult to account for the enlargement of the cells of the bees, as just described. We will, however, venture an opinion, in hopes of calling attention to the subject. In the former part of this account it has been stated, that no sooner is a portion of the comb finished than the queen deposits eggs in the various cells, and that the cells first formed are always those of the smaller size, which are excavated by what are termed the sculpturer-bees, or nurses, which are less than the wax-workers. We imagine, that when the eggs hatch, the small bees, or nurses, are more particularly engaged in attending upon the young, and that the large-sized workers then commence the excavation of the cells themselves, and thus make cells of a larger diameter than those made by the nurses. Huber states that the description of bees called waxworkers have not the power of sculpturing the cells: but at the same time he owns that he was unable to follow the proceedings in the construction of a comb for any considerable time after the commencement. During the time of his observations, however, he invariably found that the smaller bees were the sculpturers. The interior of a hive consists of a number of combs arranged perpendicularly; these are fixed to the roof of the hive, and are parallel to each other, the space between them being about half an inch. When the first comb has advanced in size, so as to consist of two or three rows of cells, two other combs are commenced, one on each side of it; the work proceeding as in the first: these again are followed in their turn by two others. As the comb advances in size it assumes a form nearly circular, and is still joined to the roof of the hive only; the work proceeds by adding wax to the margin of the comb exactly at the junction of the opposing cells, and this is no sooner deposited than it is cut away and worked into cells. These cells are not equally deep throughout the comb, but their depth gradually decreases as they approach the margin: a comb in its progress has the form of a double convex lens. The form of the comb, as above described, is that of a new one; but in the honey-storing season, the sides of the comb are joined to those of the hive, to give strength to hold the additional weight; the cells are also lengthened, so that the surface of the comb then becomes even. The cells are not quite horizontal, the orifice being generally a little higher than the base, most commonly four or five degrees, but sometimes considerably more. When a comb is first completed, it is of a dull white colour, and of a weak substance; it is however soon strengthened, by adding propolis to the margin of the cells, and lining their interior with threads of the same material. The cells of a comb are used for the purposes of storing up honey for the winter, and in them the larvæ are reared. Pollen, or bee-bread, is also stored up in some of the cells. Many larvæ may be reared in the same cell, and as each spins a cocoon, or web, on its sides which is never cleared out, it thus becomes at last too contracted to contain larvæ ; it is then used for one or both of the other purposes above mentioned. When a hive is well stored with combs having empty cells, the workers disgorge the honey into these receptacles; but in case cells are wanted, they retain the honey, and wax is secreted for the purpose of building more combs. but it also frequently happens that an interruption in one comb is corrected in those that follow. A curious instance of this nature we have also observed. See fig. 19. In both these instances the form of the comb was affected by a stick being placed across the middle of the hive, to enable the owner (as we believe) to remove the hive with less danger of the combs giving way. The latter case is so ingenious, that at first it appears more like an operation of reason than instinct: it is nevertheless to be accounted for, upon the instinctive principles with which these animals work. The course of the first comb being altered, the two adjoining ones would naturally follow its line; but if those next beyond them on each side were in a state of forwardness, the workers would be obliged to discontinue the two former, as shown in the figure, to avoid coming in contact with the two latter; for it appears to be a law in the construction of new combs, that a certain space should be always left at the margins as well as between them. In addition to the construction of the comb, the bees, when in danger of attacks from their enemies, barricade themselves. Sometimes the entrance of the hive is nearly blocked up with wax and propolis, and at others a wall of that substance is constructed just behind that part; this wall is perforated with holes only just large enough to admit of the egress and ingress of the bees themselves. The fortifications are occasionally much more ingenious and complicated. Weak hives are sometimes exposed to the attacks of strange bees, and in such cases fortifications would be constructed; but it is more particularly to prevent the ravages of the Acherontia atropos that this care is taken. As this moth only makes its appearance in the autumn, these fortifications are removed in the spring, a time when they would be of the greatest inconvenience, as the hive is then extremely populous. Huber states that the entrances formed in 1804 were destroyed in the spring of 1805. The sphinx (Acherontia atropos) did not appear that year; but it returned in great numbers in the autumn of 1807. By speedily barricading themselves, the bees prevented their threatened ravages; but before the departure of swarms in May, 1808, they demolished the fortifications, whose narrow passage prohibited free egress to the multitude.' The facts related in the foregoing account are such as we find, for the most part, well authenticated by the various authors who have written on the subject; but there are many more interesting circumstances related in each, which Aristotle.-History of Animals, book v. Swammerdam.-A translation into English, from the Dutch and Latin original edition of his work, has been made by Thomas Floyd, entitled The Book of Nature, or the History of Insects Réaumur.-In the fifth volume of his Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire des Insectes. 1734-1742. Schirach.-Histoire Naturelle de la Reine des Abeilles. 1771. Riem.-Contemplation de la Nature. Bonnet.-Tom. v. 4to. edition, and tom. x. 8vo. John Hunter. In the Philosophical Transactions for 1792. Thorley.-Female Monarchy; being an Inquiry into the Nature, Order, and Government of Bees. Wildman. A Complete Guide for the Management of Bees. 1819. Huber.-Nouvelles Observations sur les Abeilles. A translation into English of this work was published in the year 1821, entitled New Observations on the Natural History of Bees. Edward Bevan, M.D.-The Honey-Bee; its Natural History, Physiology, and Management. 1827. BEE-EATER (zoology), the vernacular name for a species of the genus Merops, Linn., one of the family Meropida, and of the syndactylous tribe, which have the external toe nearly as long as the middle one, and both joined together up to the penultimate articulation. The birds of this genus take their prey, consisting of wasps, bees, &c., like the swallows, while on the wing; and, as Cuvier observes, it is remarkable that they are not stung by those insects: the species are numerous, and many are figured by Levaillant. Their nests are formed in the banks of rivers, where they dig deep holes; and their geographical distribution is over the warmer regions of the old continent, Java, &c., and New Holland (Paramatta), none of the genus having been found in America, where their place appears to be supplied by the Motmots (Prionites, Illiger). Their brilliant plumes of colours, which change according to exposure to light, the prevalent hues being azures and greens, remind the observer of the kingfisher's gorgeous dress. A familiar example of the genus occurs in the bird whose English name is at the head of this article-the Guèpier vulgaire of the French, the Mangia-api and Lupo d'Api of the Italians, the Mépo of the Greeks, and Merops Apiaster of Linnæus. The soil of Beeder is generally productive, and previous to the Mohammedan conquest the province is said to have been thickly peopled. Its numbers must since then have much fallen off, as it is not now so populous in proportion to its extent as the greater part of the British possessions in India. The Hindus exceed the Mohammedans in the proportion of three to one. In the south of Europe it is frequent in the summer. | past the city of Beeder, and within a few miles of it to the Sicily, Sardinia, Italy, the South of France, and Germany north-east. When it has arrived within about 30 miles of possess it, and on the southern border of Russia it is nume- the city of Hyderabad it makes an abrupt bend to the rous. It is found in Turkey and in the Archipelago, and north, and joins the Godavery in 18° 48′ N. lat. and 77° 55' in autumn migrates towards Egypt. It breeds in holes in E. long., about 400 miles from its source. The Manjera is the banks of the Don and the Wolga, laying from five to not navigable in any part of its course. seven white eggs in a nest composed of moss, &c. Hasselquist says that it is found in the plains of Galilee, and that it is called Varuar by the Arabs; and Temminck, that the individuals found at the Cape of Good Hope differ in nothing from those killed in Europe. Ray, in his edition of Willughby, observes, it is not unfrequent in the Campagn of Rome: for that we saw it there to be sold in the market more than once. It is not found in England that we know of Bellonius writes that it is so common in Candy, that it is seen everywhere in that island. Aristotle tells us that it feeds upon bees, whom all other writers of the history of animals do therein follow. But it feeds not only upon bees, but also upon Cicada, beetles, and other insects. Yea, as Bellonius relates, upon the seeds of the nipplewort, bastard parsley, turnip, &c., not abstaining from wheat and other grain. From its exact agreement in the shape and make of its body, bill, and feet with the king-fisher, we suspect that it likewise preys upon fish. Bellonius, in the first book of his observations, writes thus concerning the Merops. Flying in the air it catches and preys upon bees, as swallows do upon flies. It flies not singly but in flocks, and especially by the side of those mountains where the true thyme grows. Its voice is heard afar off, almost like the whistling of a man. Its singular elegance invites the Candy boys to hunt for it with Cicada, as they do also for those greater swallows called Swifts, after this manner :-bending a pin like a hook, and tying it by the head to the end of a thread, they thrust it through a Cicada (as boys bait a hook with a fly), holding the other end of the thread in their hand. The Cicada so fastened flies, nevertheless, in the air, which the Merops spying, flies after it with all her force, and catching it, swallows pin and all, wherewith she is caught.' The passage in Aristotle, mentioning the Merops as one of the enemies most destructive to bees, is in the 40th chapter of the 9th book of his History of Animals; and there are others in the 1st chapter of his 6th book, and in the 13th chapter of his 9th, wherein he notices the peculiarity of its making its nest in holes in the earth*. The species may now be considered as an occasional visitant to this country. In the third volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society will be found the following extract from the minute-book, recording the first instance of its appearance : July 2, 1794.-The president communicated an account of Merops Apiaster, the bee-eater, having been shot (for the first time in Great Britain) near Mattishall, in the county of Norfolk, by the Rev. Mr. George Smith. The identical specimen was exhibited by permission of Mr. Thomas Talbot, of Wymondham. A flight of about twenty was seen in June, and the same flight probably (much diminished in number) was observed passing over the same spot in October following.' There is a specimen in the British Museum with Devonshire' on the label. BEECH-TREE. [See FAGUS.] BEEDER, a considerable province of Hindustan, forming part of the dominions of the Nizam, and lying between 17° and 20 N. lat. It is bounded on the west by Bejapore and Aurungabad; on the north by the latter province and Berar; on the east by Gundwana and Hyderabad, which last-named province forms also its southern boundary. The province of Beeder is divided into seven districts, viz., Calberga, Naldroog, Akulcotah, Calliany, Beeder, Nandeer, and Patree. The surface of the province is hilly, but cannot be called mountainous. It is watered by several small streams, and is intersected by the Beemah, Manjera, Kistna, and Godavery rivers. The Beemah, which is considered a sacred river by the Hindus, is a principal branch of the Kistna, and rises in the mountains on the north of Poonah. Passing within 20 miles east of that city, it flows with many windings in a south-easterly direction, and after a course of nearly 400 miles it falls into the Kistna near Eidgheer in Hyderabad. The Manjera rises about 50 miles south-east from Ahmednuggur, and flows in a south-easterly direction Bekker, in the 1st chapter of the 6th book, gives go as the Baotian name of the bird. (See Bekker's edit Berlin, 1829.) On the invasion of the Deccan, in 1295, the founder of the Bhamenee dynasty, Allah ud Deen, took up his residence at Calberga, the capital of the district of that name, in 17° 19' N. lat. and 76° 56′E. long. Although once the capital of a Hindu and afterwards of a Mohammedan sovereign, Calberga has since become a place of no importance. The province was brought under subjection by the Moguls in the reign of Aurungzebe, but was wrested from the successors of that prince, in 1717, by Nizam ul Mulk, the sovereign of Hyderabad, and has since continued in the occupation of the successive Nizams. (Mills's History of British India; Rennell's Memoir of a Map of Hindustan; Ferishta's History of the Deccan.) BEEDER, the capital of the province of the same name, is situated in 17° 49′ N. lat. and 77° 45' E. long. We have not any recently published description of this place. About half a century since it was surrounded by a stone wall, six miles in circumference, with round towers at intervals. The space between this wall and the town is a level and open place, a mode of building a town which is not uncommon in India. Beeder was founded near the ruins of an old city at the end of the sixteenth century, by Ahmed Shah Bhamenee, who gave to it the name of Ahmedabad, and transferred to it the seat of his government from Calberga. Beeder is situated 426 miles (travelling distance) from Bombay, 980 miles from Calcutta, 857 from Delhi, and 78 from Hyderabad. (Mills's History of British India; Rennell's Memoir of a Map of Hindustan.) BEEF-EATER, a jocular appellation, as it is now used, for the yeomen of the guard; though it seems probable that the name of buffetiers was formerly assigned to that portion of the yeomen of the guard only who from time to time waited at table at great solemnities, and were ranged near the buffets. (See Antiq. Repert. edit. 1808, vol. ii. p. 398.) The French in the same manner called their valets who attended the side-board buffets. Furetiere (Dictionn. Universelle, tom. i. in voce) having defined buffet to be a sort of cupboard for keeping vessels, china, &c.; also a sideboard furnished for the service of the table, adds, Buffet se dit aussi des officiers ou valets qui servent au buffet.' BEELZEBUB. [See BAAL.] BEER. [See BREWING.] BEER-ALSTON, a small market-town in the parish of Beer-Ferris and hundred of Roborough, in the county of Devon, is situate in a most picturesque country between the rivers Tamar and Tavy, six miles S.S.W. from Tavistock, fourteen N. from Plymouth, and 212 W.S.W. from London. According to Risdon, it was given by William the Conqueror to the French family of Alenson soon after the conquest, from whom it took its name. In the reign of Henry II., this honour,' says Risdon, as well as Beer-Ferrers, erroneously called Bere-Ferris, was held by Henry Ferrers; and Martin Ferrers, the last of that antient house, was put in special trust to defend the sea-coast against the invasion of the French in Edward III.'s time. Towards the close of the fourteenth century it belonged to Alexander Champernowne of Dartington, and through his grand-daughter it descended to Robert Willoughby, Lord Brooke. It is now the property of the Earl of Beverley. Beer-Alston was an antient borough by prescription, although it did not send members to parliament till the reign of Elizabeth. The electors nominally held land of the lord of the manor, at a rent of three-pence. But there really were no landholders except the lord, who created burgage tenures merely for the election. This is one of the flagrant abuses abolished by the Reform Act, Beer-Alston being by that act totally disfranchised. The election of members of parliament, as well as portreeves, town-clerks, &c., took place in the open air, under a large oak-tree. The number of inhabitants in the borough alone is estimated at 360, but the return of the population is included in that of the parish, which in 1821 amounted to 2198; but in 1831 had decreased to 1876. The living of Beer- Ferris, a rectory in the gift of the dean and chapter of Exeter, is in the archdeaconry of Totness, and diocese of Bath and Wells, and was rated in the king's books at 247. 18. 0d. Lord Valletort is the present patron. The church possesses some curious monuments of the Ferrers and Champernowne families. Beer-Alston was once famous for its silver-mines, which at one time were very productive, but at present they are not considered worth working. Perhaps to this and to the disfranchisement of the borough is to be attributed the unusual decrease of the population in this parish. It is a curious fact, that the annual value of real property, as assessed in 1815, in the parish of Beer-Ferris, is, with the exception of Plymouth and Devonport, the greatest in Devonshire, amounting to 25,5507. BEER-SHEBA, Y, the well of the oath, is called by the Septuagint Βηρσαβεέ, οι φρέαρ ορκισμοῦ, and by Josephus (Ant. i. 12) Bnpoovbai, and (vi. 3) Bapoovai, Bnprovße (Ant. viii. 13. 7), and Bnprobè (Vita ed. Havercamp. p. 18, § 37). Beer-sheba is a very antient city in the south of Palestine, the existence of which can be traced from the days of the Patriarchs to the present century. Few places have been noticed in history during so many centuries as Beer-sheba, Abraham called that place Beersheba, because there they sware both of them, when he made a covenant with Abimelech. And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. (Gen. xxi. 14. 31.) About B.C. 1804, Abimelech went to Isaac from Gerar, and they sware one to another; and it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, we have found water. And he called it Sheba: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day. (Gen. xxvi. 23, 33.) In this antient explanation, ya, seven, is considered as equivalent to, oath. Both words are, in Hebrew, seribed in the same terms, apparently taken from Eusebius. (Quæst. ad Gen. xvii. 30, and Onomast. h. v.) In the days of the crusades, it is thus mentioned by De Vitriaco, or de Vitry, in Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 1070: Beer-sheba is a town at the foot of the mountains, and near the commencement of the plain country, between the mountains and Ascalon, ten miles from Ascalon; he thus appears to assign it a different position from that of Eusebius. In a similar manner Beer-sheba is mentioned by William of Tyre. Breitenbach found, in the place of Beer-sheba, a castle called Gallin, other travellers a village called Gibelin; but Seetzen asserts that the town is still extant, under the name of Bir Szabea, under which name it is entered in the maps of Klöden and Grimm. (Comp. Joseph. Antiquit. viii. 13, 7; Zachs Correspondenz; Relandi Palestina, p. 484, 620; Hamelsveld Bibl. Geog. iii. 114, seq.; Winers Biblishes Realwörterbuch; and Gesenii Thesaurus, sub voce.) This Beer-sheba, on the southern frontiers of Palestine, towards Idumæa, should not be confounded with a Beersheba (Bnpoabet, or Bnpoábn) in Upper Galilæa, mentioned by Josephus (Jewish War, ii. 20, 6; iii. 3, 1, pp. 208 and 223); and in Dr. Richardson's Travels. BEESHA, a genus of grasses nearly allied to Bambusa, with which it is actually combined by some naturalists, but from which it differs, according to the concurrent testimony of all authors, in the otherwise incredible circumstance ef its seeds being enclosed in a fleshy pericarp. Two species are known, both of which have the aspect of the spineless bamboos. Of these Beesha baccifera is found Pagu tulla, growing in dry places on the sides of hills, on the Chittagong mountains of India, where it is called where the upper stratum of soil is sandy. According to Roxburgh's Flora Indica, the circumference of the stems near the base is twelve or thirteen inches, and their height from fifty to seventy; 'beautifully erect, and without the least flexure or inequality of surface; bare of branches, except near the extremity: it perishes after yielding its fruit. It yields more or less tabasheer, of a siliceous erystallization; sometimes it is said the cavity between the joints is nearly filled with this, which the people call Choona or lime. (Flora Indica, ii. 197.) Beesha Fax is a smaller species, not above eighteen feet high; it is found in Amboyna and other parts of the Malayan Archipelago, where it is applied to many useful purposes. It is the Arundarbor cratium of Rumphius's Her BEET, in Botany. [See BETA.] intimately related to each other, because the number seven viii. 13. 7.) Beer-sheba belonged first to the cities of the tribe of Judah. (Joshua xv. 28; 1 Kings xix. 3.) But it appears from Joshua xix. 2, that, strictly speaking, Beer-sheba had been conceded to the Shimeonites. The second lot came forth to Shimeon, even to the tribe of the children of Shimeon, and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah; and they had in their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Molada,' &c. (1 Chron. iv. 28.) That Beer-sheba was situated in the south of Judah is expressly mentioned in 2 Sam. xxiv. 2-7. v. 15. Hence the name of Beer-sheba is frequently mentioned, when the whole extent of Palestine is described, in the expression from Dan to Beer-sheba, or vice versa, From Beer-sheba even to Dan.' (1 Chron. xxi. 2; 2 Chron. xxx. 5; Judges xx. 1; 1.Sam. iii. 20; 2 Sam. iii. 10; 2 Sam. xvii. 11, xxiv. 15; 1 Kings v. 5; 2 Chron. xxx. 5.) If the kingdom of Judah only is meant, the following phrases are employed, from Geba to Beersheba (2 Kings xxiii. 8); from Beer-sheba to the mountain of Ephraim. (2 Chron. xix. 4.) BEET, a plant of the genus Beta, in the class Pentandria, and order Digynia of Linnæus, and, in the natural order, Chenopodea of Jussieu. There are two distinct species of beet commonly cultivated, each containing several varieties, the one called the Cicla, or Hortensis, producing succulent leaves only, the other the Vulgaris, distinguished by its large fleshy root. The cicla is chiefly cultivated in gardens as a culinary vegetable, and forms one of the principal vegetables used by agricultural labourers and small occupiers of land in many parts of Germany, France, and Switzerland. A variety known by the name of Swiss chard produces numerous large suc culent leaves, which have a very solid rib running along the middle. The leafy part being stripped off and boiled, is used as a substitute for greens and spinach, and the rib and stalk are dressed like asparagus or scorzenera; they have a pleasant sweet taste, and are more wholesome than the cabbage tribe. In a good soil the produce is very abundant, and if cultivated on a large scale in the field, this species of beet would prove a valuable addition to the plants raised for cattle. By cultivating it in rows, and frequently hoeing and stirring the intervals, it would be an excellent substitute for a fallow on good light loams. All cattle are very fond of the leaves of this beet, which add much to the milk of cows without giving it that bad Under the reign of Uzziah, about the year 787 B.C., Beer- taste which is unavoidable when they are fed with turnips sheba was notorious for idolatry. (Amos v. 5; viii. 14.) The or cabbages, and which is chiefly owing to the greater racity was re-occupied by the Jews after their return under Ne-pidity with which the latter undergo the putrefactive ferhemiah from the Babylonish exile, about 445 B.C. According to Nehemiah (xi. 27, 30), the children of Judah dwelled again from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom. About the year 300 A.D. Eusebius Pamphili describes Beer-sheba as a very large village, twenty miles south-west of Hebron, and a garrison post. In the days of St. Hieronymus, about the beginning of the fifth century A.D., we find it again de mentation. If sown in May in drills two feet wide, and thinned out to the distance of a foot from plant to plant in the rows, they will produce an abundance of leaves, which may be gathered in August and September, and will grow again rapidly, provided a bunch of the centre leaves be left on each plant. They do not sensibly exhaust the soil, These leaves, when boiled or steamed with bran, eut chaff, or refuse grain, are an excellent food for pigs, or bullocks put up to fatten. The second species, the Vulgaris, or beet-root, has been long cultivated in gardens; especially that variety called the red beet, which, when boiled and sliced, makes such an excellent addition to winter salad. It is a native of the south of Europe, and hence all the varieties are tender, and destroyed by frost when in their young state. It thrives best in a rich, light, dry soil, and, from the length of its taproot, requires a considerable depth. The white beet is an excellent root, and is preferred by many to the larger and more common intermediate varieties. It has been lately in great repute in France and Belgium for the manufacture of sugar. It is not commonly cultivated in our gardens, and we only notice it as being, with the red beet, the parent of those varieties which have been introduced into field culture. The common field-beet for cattle, which has been long known in Germany, was introduced into England at the latter end of the last century; and its introduction is generally attributed to the late Dr. Lettsom, a physician of great reputation, and one of the Society of Friends. The German name is mangold wurzel, or mangold root, but it is commonly pronounced mangel wurzel, which means scarcity root; and by a strange translation it is called in French racine d'abondance, or root of plenty, as well as racine de disette, or root of scarcity. The name of field beet is much more appropriate. and if the distance is half a mile, four acres; the expense will be amply repaid in the crop.* On a very large scale this may not be so practicable; but wherever a field of beet is near the home-stall, it should never be omitted; the evident advantage of it will soon remove any objection arising from trouble or expense. When the plants are three inches above ground, they may be thinned out a foot apart in the rows; the intervals between the rows may be stirred with the plough, grubber, or horse-hoe, and the intervals from plant to plant in the row with the hand-hoe. The ground cannot be kept too fine and open, provided the soil be not extremely porous, and the weather very dry; in that case it must not be stirred so much, for fear of the moisture evaporating too much. It is a common practice to throw the earth from the rows against the roots; but the most experienced cultivators do not approve of the method: on the contrary, they recommend drawing the earth from the plants, or at least laying the whole ground level. Where the soil is naturally rich and deep, the drills may be made on the level ground; but if the soil is shallow, or the subsoil of a barren nature, it is best to raise small ridges, as is done for turnips on the Northumberland plan, and bury the dung under them, by which means the roots have more room to strike downwards. As soon as the outer leaves begin to droop, they may be gathered and given to cattle, but a tuft should be left in the centre to carry on the vegetation, or else the roots will not increase. This practice of gathering the leaves is The improved variety of this beet, which grows to a very strongly recommended by some, and they assert that the large size in good soil, has a red skin, and when cut through root does not suffer in the least, although the leaves are appears veined with red, in concentric circles. The prin- reproduced; but here we would give this caution, founded cipal part of the root rises often a foot and more above the on experience and observation. The drooping leaves, if not ground, and the leaves, which are large and succulent, gathered, will decay and fall off; they have performed their spring from the crown of the root. There is a limit, how-office, and therefore to gather them before they wither is a ever, beyond which the root does not improve in quality real economy: but to strip off fresh and growing leaves as it increases, and the roots of a moderate size contain must injure the plant, and the juices required to replace more saccharine and nutritive matter in the same bulk them are so much taken from the growth of the roots. than the larger. This is particularly the case with those When fodder is very scarce this may be a sacrifice worth varieties from which sugar is extracted. The soil best making, but if the object is to reserve the roots for winter adapted for the beet-root is a deep sandy loam, naturally food, the leaves should remain on the plant as long as they rich, or made so by repeated manuring. The manure look fresh and growing, until near the time of taking up should be well incorporated with the soil, and if any is the whole crop: the top may then be cut off an inch above added for this crop, it should be well rotted and ploughed the crown of the root, and will be excellent food for the in deep. The application of liquid manure during the cows and pigs. growth of the plant greatly increases the roots; but it is also said to make them more watery, and for the sugar beet it is not recommended. The seed, which should be chosen from the most perfect plants, is sown in May if sown sooner, there is some danger from the frosty nights which often occur about the beginning of that month; or if the spring is warm and genial, it gets too forward, and instead of increasing in the root, it shoots up a seed-stalk, and the root becomes comparatively useless. If it is sown later than May, it never arrives at a full size before the approach of winter: hence the first or second week in May is the best time in our climate. It is found by experience that those plants of beet which grow from seed sown where they are to remain have larger roots, in general, than those which are transplanted; the seed is therefore usually drilled, or dibbled, in rows from twenty-four to thirty inches distant; the seeds are put in about an inch deep, and when they are dibbled, the holes are about four inches asunder, and two or three seeds are put in a hole. After they come up and are out of danger of frost or insects, they are thinned out, so as to leave the plants a foot asunder. Where the plants have failed, the intervals are filled up by transplanting some of those which are superfluous in other parts: in doing this it is essential that the fibres of the roots be not torn off in pulling up the plant; and if they are taken up carefully with some of the mould adhering to the roots, it will well repay the additional trouble. If the ground is well prepared, there is little fear of the plants not coming up, or of their being destroyed by the fly, as is too often the case with turnips. A sprinkling of liquid manure along the rows, about the time that the plants first appear above ground, will in general secure an abundance of them; and this may be done with much less trouble than would be imagined, by those who have never practised it. It requires only a water-cart, with a large cask and two leathern hose, kept at a proper distance from each other by a stick between them, so that they may pour the liquid manure over two rows at once. If the field be not above a mile from the tank, a man and horse will water two acres in a day, The roots are generally taken up and stored for winter, some time before there is any danger of considerable frost; the top having been removed, and the tap root cut off, the mould which may adhere to the fibres is scraped off with the back of the knife. The roots are then either stacked in a barn or root-house, with alternate layers of straw, and the sides and top protected from the frost by straw placed all round, in which way they will keep well and fresh till spring: or they are placed in trenches two feet deep and six feet wide, with a layer of straw at the bottom and against the sides; they are heaped up in these trenches to the height of three feet above the ground, forming a ridge at top, and then covered all over with straw, over which the earth taken out of the trench is spread, and made smooth, sloping like the roof of a house. A small trench is dug all round this heap, with a proper outlet to prevent any water from soaking in; the heaps are made of any length, according to the quantity of roots to be stored, and the two ends are secured with straw, and covered with earth like the sides. When it is required to take out the roots for use, an opening is made at the end, a sufficient quantity is taken out, and the end is secured again with straw and earth as before. When the roots have been put in dry, and some time has been allowed for a slight fermentation, and the steam produced has been allowed to escape before the heap was finally covered in, they will come out quite fresh and juicy till late in spring; but if the proper precautions are neglected, they will often rot or become musty, and then the cattle will not readily eat them. There are few crops so valuable for winter food for cattle as the beet; Swedish turnips, or ruta baga, exceed them in the quantity of nourishment, weight for weight, but on good light soils the produce of the beet per acre is much greater. On old pasture ground trenched up enormous crops of mangel wurzel have been raised. When the If the water-cart contains 100 gallons, it will water one-third of an acre, in rows at three feet distance; the horse will go over one mile and a half in an ordinarily shaped field to water an acre, to which must be added twice the distance from the tank, taken three times. This makes in all 14 + 6, or 74 miles for each acre, when the distance is one mile. |