184 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Note that in this table the per cent of sugar in the juice and not in the 

 beet is reported. 



VARIETY TESTS -SUGAR AND PURITY. 



The fact that two adjacent beets in the same row, grown from the 

 same seed, in the same soil and under identical conditions may vary in 

 per cent of sugar from one to even two per cent, renders the interpre- 

 tation of a table like the above a very difficult task. The value of a 

 variety is measured by the amount of sugar it yields per acre. In our 

 experiments, this amount is measured by multiplying the net weight of 

 beets yielded per acre by the per cent of sugar in the beet. The per cent of 

 sugar in the beet is supposed to be correctly determined when three or four 

 beets are tested. As a matter of fact the individual beets in a given plot 

 may and do vary as widely from each other in this regard as do samples 

 from separate plots. 



Note as bearing on this statement, the behavior of variety 5, samples 

 of October 1, taken the same day from the same plot, care being used 

 to secure beets similar in size and shape. Variety 18 displays a similar 

 perversity, as do varieties 22, 19 and 12, while 7 shows a variation of 

 over two per cent in sugar between selected samples pulled the same 

 day. Unfortunately the beet does not have conspicuous external signs 



