"Beets it is!" agreed Mr. Powers. "So your father is interested in
beets too, is he? You don't chance to be the son of Mr. Asa Blake,
do you?"
"Yes, sir."
"That is a coincidence," observed Mr. Powers much interested. "I
sell all my crops to him. I expect then, young man, you know all
there is to be known about growing beets."
"On the contrary, I don't know a thing," Van confessed laughing.
"Dad has never talked to me much about his business. He is too busy
to talk to anybody," he added a little dubiously.
"It is usually the doctor's children who never get any medicine,"
chuckled Mr. Powers. "Now, I could do better than that for you. I
could tell you considerable about beets if you urged me to."
"I wish you would," answered the boys promptly.
"There, you see, you urge me at once--you insist upon hearing! What
can I do? There is no escape for me but to comply with your request.
Of course I was not expecting to be called upon to speak to-day and
therefore I must crave the indulgence of the audience if I am but
poorly prepared," began Mr. Powers with mock gravity.
"In the first place you must remember that while sugar-cane can only
be cultivated in a hot, moist climate, beets grow best in the
temperate zone. In the United States there is a belt of beet-sugar
land two hundred miles wide that runs irregularly across the country
from southern New England to the Pacific coast. Sugar-beets can, of
course, be grown elsewhere, but it is in this particular region that
they thrive best.
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