Storing.—For storing roots, especial care should be taken to prevent their germinating and throwing out fresh tops, which. is best done by selecting a dry place for the storage ground.
They may be piled in pyramidal stacks, about 6 ft. broad at base, and 7 ft. high. At first, the stacks should be thinly covered with earth, that the moisture may readily evaporate ; subsequently, when frosty weather sets in, another layer of earth, not exceeding 1 ft. in thickness, may bo added. This is essentially the method generally adopted in this country for storing potatoes and man gold.
In continental Europe and Canada, extra precaution is necessitated by the rigorous climate. In S. Russia, the plan shown in Fig. 1292 is sometimes used. The beets are disposed completely below the surface of the soil, in a trench dug with sharply sloping sides. At about 15 in. from the bottom, is an openwork floor of reeds, on which the beets are piled to within a few inches of the level of the exterior soil. On the top, and following the apex of the heap, is laid a triangular ridge pieee a, for tho purpose of facilitating evaporation. The whole is covered with a layer b of straw and fine earth, the thickness of which is varied accordieg to the indications of the thermometer c placed in the centro of the mass. Between the floor of the trench and the openwork floor is a space (I, communicating with two vertical channels leading to the outer air, thus providing ventila tion. The outlets of the channels can be opened and closed at will. The Russians also often employ regular cellars, as shown in Fig. 1293. The structure consists of two storeys, covered with a bed of earth, each furnished with a floor of hurdles or open planking, on which the beets are piled to the depth of about 1 yd. Lateral passages facilitate ventilation, and openings in the roof permit the heated air to escape. The cost of erecting these cellars is heavy, but there is great saving of
labour in storing the beets, as it suffices to simply pile them up on the floors. Moreover, the arrangement permits the examination of the contents beyond the indications of a thermometer ; and euables any portion to be removed, even during snowy weather.
Diseases and Enemies. —The insects injurious to beet are priucipally three,—the beet carrion beetle, the beet-fly, and the silver-Y moth. The beet earriou-beetle (Silpha opaca) gnaws away the leaves till the fibres alone remain, but the roots escape. The egg is commonly laid in putrid matter. The attacks of the grub last from about the 3rd week in May to the end of June ; no damage seems to be dono by the summer brood of beetles. Remediea are :—(1) sprinkling the plants with a mixture of 1 bush. gas-lime, 1 bush. quick-lime, 6 lb. sulphur, and 10 lb. soot, made into a flne powder, and applied while the dew is on the leaf, this quantity sufficing for about 2 mires; (2) the substitution of superphosphate of lime for farmyard dung; (3) the application of dung, when used, in the autumn instead of the spring.
The beet- or mang,old-fly (Anthomyia beta) damages the crops by tbe attacks of its voracious legless maggots, which feed on the pulp of the leaves, and reduce them to a dry skin. Their worst effects are soen on peat and fen lands, and in wet seasons. A dressing of superphosphate seems to be effectual.
The silver-Y moth (Plusia gamma), extending frorn Abyssinia to Greenland, and met with in China, Siberia, and N. America, occasionally does great damage to the Continental beet-crops, while in the caterpillar state. The latter are large, and consume the leaves rapidly. Dustinga of caustic lime, soot, or salt, and drenchings of liquid manure or simple water, are beneficial.