The harvest commences in the month of August, and as soon as the grapes are plucked from the trees, they are spread to dry, upon a floor prepared for the purpose by stamping the earth quite hard. This floor is formed with a gentle rising in the middle, that the rain, in case any should fall, may run off, and not injure the fruit. When sufficiently dry, the currants are cleaned, and laid up in magazines, being poured into them through a hole, and stowed so closely that it is necessary to dig them out with an iron instrument. They are packed for exportation in large casks, and by persons who have their feet greased in order to tread them close. The principal consumption of currants is in England; but the inhabitants of the islands whence they are brought know little of the use we make of them. They imagine that we employ them only in the dyeing of cloth, and are entirely ignorant of our luxury of Christmas pies, and plum puddings. A small but inferior kind of currants are grown in some parts of Spain. DIGYNIA. 80. _BEET_ (Beta vulgaris) _is a well known fleshy or succulent root, which is cultivated in our kitchen gardens, and grows wild in several countries of the south of Europe._ _There are two principal varieties of beet, one of which is of deep red or purple colour, and the other is white, crossed with bands of red._ Red beet is principally used at table boiled and cut in slices: it is, however, sometimes pickled, and sometimes stewed with onions; but, if eaten in great quantity, it is said to be injurious to the stomach. The roots may be taken out of the ground for use about the end of August, but they do not attain their full size and perfection till the month of October. When good they are large, and of deep red colour; and, when boiled, they are tender, sweet, and palatable. It has lately been ascertained that beet roots may be substituted for malt, if deprived of the greater part of their juice by pressure, then dried, and treated in the same manner as the grain intended for brewing. The beer, made from beet, has been found perfectly wholesome and palatable, and little inferior to that prepared from malt.