r
stakes about one foot above the soil, will afford protection from the
former and prevent the depredations of the latter. Set the drills about
twelve inches apart and sow the seed one and a half to two inches deep.
Thin the plants early and allow them to stand finally at nine inches in
the rows.

==Main Crop.==--The most important crop is that required for salading, for
which a deep-coloured Beet of rich flavour is to be preferred, and the
aim of the cultivator should be to obtain roots of moderate size and of
perfect shape and finish. The ground having been trenched two spades
deep early in the year, may be made up into four-and-a-half-feet beds
some time in March, preparatory to sowing the seed. The main sowing
should never be made until quite the end of April or beginning of May.
For a neat crop, sow in drills one and a half to two inches deep, and
spaced from twelve to fifteen inches apart. When finally thinned the
plants should stand about nine inches apart in the rows. Hand weeding
will have to follow soon after sowing, and perhaps the hoe may be
required to supplement the hand. The thinning should be commenced as
early as possible, but it is waste of time to plant the thinnings, and
it is equally waste of time to water the crop. In fact, if the ground is
well prepared, weeding and thinning comprise the whole remainder of the
cultivation.

Some of the smaller and more delicate Beets, of a very dark colour, may
be sown in drills a foot or fifteen inches apart and thinned to six
inches distance in the drills. We have, indeed, lifted pretty crops of
the smaller Beets at four inches, but it is not prudent to crowd the
plants, as the result will be thin roots with long necks.

On stony shallow soils, where it is difficult to grow handsome long
Beets, the Globe and Intermediate varieties may be tried with the
prospect of a satisfactory result. We have in hot seasons found these
most useful on a damp clay where fine specimens of long Beet were rarely
obtainable. From this same unkind clay it is possible to secure good
crops of long Beets, by making deep holes with a dibber a foot apart and
filling these with sandy stuff from the compost yard and sowing the seed
over them. It is a tedious process, but it benefits the land for the
next crop, and the Beets pay for it in the first instance.

==Late Crops.==--By sowing the Globe or Turnip-rooted varieties in July,
useful roots may be obtained during the autumn and winter