Country Life
A PENETRATING PLANT.
Among the -English fitful crops that have enjoyed a real revival this year is sugar-beet. The acreage fell alarmingly ' last year, but that was an incidental oscillation, not the sign of a reversal of policy. This exceptional plant has a botanical as well as agricultural interest. saw some roots of this year's planting dug up for special examination. The mass of rootlets was as immense as the area of " suriligtit imprisoning " leaf. In exceptional soils, both in America and Australia, these rootlets have penetrated to a depth of several yards, almost rivalling lucerne or alfalfa, about which many very tall; or deep, stories are current. Two feet would an exceptional depth in England, though 32 inches has been quoted by authority as a standard depth. "What matters is that the rootlets have a great capacity for penetrating into any sub-soil that is tolerably soft, and in their decay, by aerating this low level, permanently benefit the land. Continental opinion is "un- animous on this. 'point, and has been since Napoleon first pOpularized the crop, and did much to revive the moribund Soils of French farms. No one should discuss the value of sugar-beet without considering this point. * * *
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