152 Bulletin 244, 



(a) Size of the root, which should not be less than two lbs. 



(b) The percentage of dry matter, which should be, for the 



present, as near 20 per cent, as possible. 



2. Good keeping quality. That is, the root should not lose a large 

 proportion of its nutrients in storage and it should retain its fresh and 

 crisp appearance for six months after harvesting. 



3. Form and shape. 



(a) The crown should be single, since multiple crowns indicate 



coarseness and these latter generally prosper at the ex- 

 pense of food already stored in the root. 



(b) A minimum neck. The neck is the least desirable part of 



the root. 



(c) The dimples should not be too deep, and should be well 



supplied with fine rootlets which readily break off when 

 the root is harvested. 



(d) The tap root should be single, free from forking and from 



rootlets. The latter should be confined to the dimples. 



(e) The shape may be anything that is desired or which can be 



most readily secured, but, for a variety to be classed as 

 of particular shape, at least 60 per cent, of the roots 

 should conform to that shape. 



4. The roots should be free from disease. 



In Europe, from sugar-beets, an average of at least a half pound of 

 seed per plant is expected ; one pound is often secured from individual 

 plants. In the United States the general average yield of seed per plant 

 is below that of Europe. 



Mother beets should be planted on well prepared and rich land, as 

 early as possible in spring. The land should be fall-plowed and fitted 

 as for an ordinary crop of mangels. The roots are planted 35^ or 4 feet 

 apart each way and the land kept clean by cultivation, or else mulched 

 with manure. When the bulk of the seeds are ripe the crop is harvested, 

 usually by cutting the stalks by hand, as with a corn knife. If the quan- 

 tity is smaller, it is easier to tie the stalks into bundles and hang them in 

 the barn to dry, giving plenty of ventilation. Larger areas would have 

 to be shocked in the field to cure and then be threshed. Small quantities 

 are easily threshed by means of a stick on a large sheet. 



In planting different varieties of mother beets, including all mangels, 

 and sugar-beets, it is generally advised that each variety be at least 

 several hundred yards from any other variety to prevent cross fertiliza- 

 tion, and some European growers go two or three miles. The weight of 

 evidence is in favor of taking such precaution. In 1903, O. Pitsch 



