REPORT OF MR. S. A. BEDFORD 

 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



337 



EXPERIMENTS WITH SUGAR BEETS. 



Eight varieties of these roots were tested this year, of these only three are recom- 

 mended for use in the manufacture of sugar, viz., Vilmorin's Imfproved, Wanzleben 

 and French Very Rich. All the varieties are, however, particularly useful as food for 

 stock. We find young animals relish them better than either mangels or turnips. 



The yield on this farm was very much above the average, but the three true sugar 

 beets which were tested by Mr. F. T. Shutt, Chemist of the Dominion Experimental 

 Farms, Ottawa, were not as rich in sugar as usual. 



The first plots were sown on May 20 and the second on June 3. The early sown 

 plots gave the largest returns in every instance. All were harvested on October 4. 



The estimate of yield has been made from the product of two rows, each 6Q feet 

 long. The soil was a black sandy loam fertilized with ten loads of well rotted manure 

 per acre. The previous crop was potatoes. 



Sugar Beets — Test of Varieties. 



a 



Name of Variety. 



1 Red Top Sugar 



2 Danish R^d Top 



Royal Giant 



Improved Imperial . . 



Wanzlehen 



Danish Improved 



7j Vilmorin's Improved. 

 8 French Very Rich . . . 



Yield 

 per Acre. 



1st Plot. 



Bush. Lbs. 



1,742 



1,540 



1,108 



1,100 



1,078 



950 



809 



704 



24 

 48 



24 

 36 



Yield 

 per Acre. 



2nd Plot. 



Bush. Lbs. 



902 .. 



1,034 . . 



849 12 

 792 .. 

 616 . , 



850 .. 

 506 .. 

 550 .. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES. 



This useful vegetable has again given a large return. Some of the tubers were not 

 so smooth as usual, but the quality was excellent. 



The potatoes followed a crop of field roots; this plan gives an excellent yield with 

 very little labour in weeding. 



The soil received a light coat of well rotted barnyard manure in tiie fall, which 

 was ploughed under and well rolled before winter set in. 



Dreer's Standard, the variety heading the list this year, was third in productive- 

 ness on this farm in 1904. It is white in colour and of good quality, but it is' rather 

 late for this country. Canadian Beauty, the fifth on the list, is much earlier, nearly 

 as producti\'e and the colour is generally more acceptable to Canadian consumers. 



As usual the very early kinds were not as productive as the later ones. 



Forty-nine varieties were tested this year, there was no injury whatever from rot 

 or from the attacks of the Colorado Beetle. 



The soil selected was a sandy loam. All the varieties were planted on May 16 in 

 rows three feet apart and dug on October 2. The yield has been estimated in each 

 case from the product of one row 66 feet long. 



16—22 



