Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/781

BEEBSHEBA. feet deep, the smaller 23 — and a heap of ruins now mark the spot of Beersheba.

BEESLY, hoz'li, Edwar!) Spencer (1831—). An English seliolar and historian. He was edu- cated at Wadhani College, Oxford, was professor of Latin at Bedford College (London) in ISCO- 89, and professor of history in University Col- lege (London) from ISfiO to 1893. He also be- came editor of the Posit ivist Review. His pub- lications include Catiline, ('lodius, and Tiberius (1878), and Queen Elizabeth (1892).

BEES'TON. A manufacturing town of Not- tingliamsliire, England, on the Trent, 3^2 miles southwest of Nottingham. It has important lace- making, niachineiy, cj'cle, and automl)ile fac- tories. Pupulatioii, in 1891, 0948; in 1901, 8950.

BEES'WAX'. The plastic material secreted by bees, and used by them in the manufacture of their cells. It is largelj- produced in Europe and in the L'nited States, and is an important article of export from various parts of Asia and .frica. Beeswax is a solid, tough substance, having a pale yellowish-brown color, a specific gravity of about 0.9G, and a pleasant odor re- sembling hone}'. It melts at 67° C. (152.6° F.). The crude wax is separated from the honey by pressure. The comb thus obtained is treated with water and heated and stirred until the wax melts. The wax is then run into a vessel of cold water, where it is further washed and al- lowed to solidify. As thus obtained, it is used on floors and for making sealing-wax, lithographic crayons, and mastic varnish. Crude beeswax may be bleached by exposing thin shreds of the yellow wax to air and sunlight; the resulting wax is perfectly white and has neither taste nor smell. V:i.x may also be bleached with nitric acid and chlorine, although the latter "omliines with it. Candles made of wax that has been bleached with chlorine yield, on burn- ing, stifling vapors of hydrochloric acid. This fact, first investigated by Dum.as, led to the establishment of the substitution theory in organic chemistry. The qualitj- of beeswax is dependent ujjon the facility with which it bleaches. Certain varieties can scarcely be bleaclied at all. Bleached wax is employed in candle-making, and in modeling figures, flowers, and otlier similar objects.

BEET (AS. lete, Lat. leta). A genus of plants of the natural order Chenopodiacc:?. There are about fifteen species, mostly biennials, with smooth ovate, stalked root-leaves and tall, leafy flowering stems. They are natives of the tem- j.erate parts of the Old World. The only species of economic importance is the Beta vulgaris. This has been in cultivation since before the Christian Era, and has been developed as a root- vegetable, leaf vegetable, and as a foliage plant. The root-vegetable varieties, cultivated in gar- dens, constitute our table l)eets. Their color and form vary from dark blood-red to scarlet and white, and from turnip-shape to long tapering forms. The earlier and smaller varieties are usually turnip-shaped. As a vegetable, the garden beet is boiled, pickled, used as a salad, and the tops cooked for 'greens.' Young beets are extensively grown as an early market-garden crop in the vicinity of all the larger cities in the United States, and are sometimes forced under glass. (See VEGETABLES for illustration.) Garden beets require a deep, rich, loose, well- tilled soil. The seed is sown as early in spring as the weather becomes settled, in drills 18 tO' 36 inches apart, and the young plants are after- wards thinned to 4 to inches in the row. The wider rows permit of horse-cultivation. Some fifty varieties of garden beets are grown in the L'nited States. Of the early varieties. Early Blood Turnip, Eclipse, Egyptian, and IJassano are standard sorts. The Mangold-wurzel, or Slangold, is the variety now usually grown for cattle-feeding. It is a coarser and very large form of the common beet. It is planted as soon as the ground can be tilled in spring, in drills ii to 3 feet apart, and the plants are allowed to stand from 12 to 14 inches distant in the row. I'urther cultivation consists in keeping down the weeds, and shallow tillage. Golden Tank- ard, Golden Yellow Mammoth, and JIammoth Long Red are standard varieties. The sugar beet is a form of the common beet in which the percentage of sugar has been greatly in- creased by cultivation and selection. It is ex- tensively grown in Central Europe, and in the northern and western United States, for the production of sugar. (See Sugar Beet.) The strain of the Beta vulgaris, which is grown as a leaf vegetable, is generally known as Chard or Swiss Chard, and will be considered under the head of Chard (q.v. ). The foliage varieties of beets are grown for their ornamental value, and are used for bedding and for borders where strong and heavy effects are desired. The large leaves of the several varieties are richly marked with diff'erent shades of rea, orange, silver white, and intermediate shades.

Beet Diseases. Beets are subject to a num- ber of fungus attacks, some of which are con- fined to the leaves ; others occurring upon the roots. The most destructive disease of the leaves is the leaf-spot, due to Cercospora beticola. The leaves are more or less covered with ashy spots, and later, by their drying up and falling away, little is left of the leaf but the frame-work. When tile attack is severe, the growth and ma- turity of the crop is affected to a considerable degree. Bordeaux mixture (see Fungicides) will prevent this disease, if the leaves are kept well covered with it from June through the growing season. The fungus winters in the old leaves, which should therefore be collected and burned. A red rust eau.sed by Vromyces hetce. and a wdiite rust due to Cystopus blitii, occur on the leaves. Both will yield to applications of the more common fungicides.

Upon the roots the scab is one of the worst troubles. It is due to the same cause as the potato-scab, and will require the same treat- ment. A root-rot due to Rhizoctonia bctce is troublesome in Europe. Small roots are killed and larger ones injured by the fungus, which readily survives in the soil. On this ac- count, where the disease has appeareil, other crops should be grown for a number of seasons. This disease, so far as reported, is most destruc- tive to sugar-beets. A bacterial disease of sugar-beets is reported. The roots are not killed, but their sugar content is considerably reduced. It may be recognized by the greater prominence of the fibres in a cut section of the root by the difference of color, and by less solid structure. No certain means for its pre- vention are known.