200 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Per Cent Per Cent 



No. Sugar. No. Sugar. 



1 15.0 31 14.6 



2 32 14.1 



3 15.2 33 



4 14.5 34 14.2 



5 13.4 35 15.8 



6 36 14.9 



7.... 13.6 37 15 



8 38 15.1 



9 15.6 39 15.0 



10 12.6 40 13.0 



11 13.1 41 13.8 



12 14.4 42 .' 



13 14.2 43 15.0 



14 16.2 44 16.3 



15 14.1 45 14.8 



16 15.2 46 14.3 



17 14.8 47 14.1 



18 15.3 48 13.5 



19 49 14.2 



20 15.4 50 12.8 



21 14.5 51 



22 15.8 52 : 14.5 



23 15.1 53 13.7 



24 14.2 54 14.4 



25 15.5 55 11.1 



26 15.1 56 



27 14.8 57..: 13.2 



28 12.4- 58 14.0 



29 15.1 59 14.6 



30 15.0 



This little table reveals the wide divergence in sugar content of beets grown 

 under idenltcal conditions from the seed from the same source. Every one who has 

 had to test beets grown from the seed of the same mother beet knows how widely 

 they vary in composition. They have not yet been bred long enough to insure the 

 production of seed by a single mother beet of such uniform excellence as to insure 

 a high per cent of sugar in all of the beets grown from it. Under average field 

 conditions in Michigan the seed furnished by the factories could not be expected 

 to be carefully selected when it is remembered that it is imported from a foreign 

 country without opportunity on the part of the factory purchasing it to make care- 

 ful inspection as to its ancestry and the methods used in both preventing adultera- 

 tion and eliminating inferior stock. In ordinary field conditions a still wider 

 variation in sugar content of adjacent beets would naturally be expected. The selec- 

 tion of a few beets here and there over the field gives but little indication, upon 

 analysis, of the average sugar content of the whole field. 



2. Two methods of gathering samples compared — From a tenth adre plot, Prof. 

 Robison and his assistant selected one beet every five paces until every row in the 

 plot had been canvassed Forty-five beets were thus selected, the composite sample 

 of which showed 14% sugar with a purity 83.9. Next ten beets were selected at 

 random, taking care to divide the beets among the low and high areas so that 

 each soil type would be represented. A composite sample of these ten beets showed 

 a sugar content of 13.2% with a purity of 80.0. In our work with varieties there- 

 fore, a variation of .8% or even 1% is not significant and even larger variations 

 may be due to samples misrepresenting the plot rather than to any real difference 

 in the prepotency of the seed. 



3. Shrinkage of beets in transit through the viails and consequent increase 

 in sugar co7itent — Since the per cent of sugar in the beets indicates the relation 

 between ttie weight of the beet and the Aveight of the sugar it contains it is evident 

 that if the sugar remains constant and the weight of the beet decreases by reason 

 of drying out, the per cent of sugar will be increased. This of course does not 

 mean that there is any more absolute sugar in the beet but that the sugar con- 

 stitutes a larger proportion of the total weight of the beet Beets are frequently 

 sent to the station for analysis. The request is made that the sample be analyzed 



