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 autom()l)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.
