32 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



ll is rurllicr slntcd tluil I lie ('.-iiiiuess. (juality. and yield of tln" croi) may be 

 .i;i-catly iiiHuciiccd li\ (arclui selection of the seed. 



Pi'ogress of the beet-sugar industry in the United States in 1906, C. F. 

 Saylok (I . S. Dcpt. Af/r. Rpt. .s'/, p/i. Li').) — A general review of the beet-siigar 

 industry for the year is given, and discussions on some important features and 

 i)enefits of sugar-beet culture, the promotion of the sugar industry, new features 

 relating to factory operations, and im])roved implements and devices for the 

 benefit of beet growers are presented, together with the climatic conditions and 

 farm and factory results by States for 190(j, and statistics of the sugar industry 

 in the United States and the world at large. The work with sugar beets of the 

 Bureavi of IMant Industry of this I)ei)artment, comprising studies of the effects 

 of fertilizers, of culture methods, methods of siloing, sugar-beet diseases, single- 

 germ beet seed, breeding of strains for early maturity and for dry and alkali 

 lands, methods of improving yield and (iuality>, production and improvement of 

 commercial beet seed, and the extension of the sugar beet area, is also briefly 

 described. 



The total number of factories operating in 19(J<» was (to. A total of o7»).0T4 

 acres of beets, averaging a yield of 11. 2G tons per acre, was harvested. The 

 total quantity of beets worked was 4.2.36,112 tons, producing 48.3.(512 tons of 

 sugar. The average sugar in the beets was 14.9 per cent, the average purity 

 82.2 per cent, the average length of the campaign 10.5 days, and the estimated 

 average extraction of sugar 11.42 per cent. The increase in acreage harvested 

 over 1905 was more than 22 per cent, and the increase in the average yield of 

 beets per acre as compared with that year was 23* per cent. The highest aver- 

 age yield per acTe by States was produced in Ftah. being 1.5.88 tons, and the 

 next highest in f'olorado, 13.41 tons. 



The process of drying beets or cossettes i)rior to extracting tlieir juices by dif- 

 fusion, denatured alcohol in its relation to the sugar industry, and the develop- 

 ment of conditions and prospects of extending the l)eet-growing industry are 

 discussed. With reference to the drying of beets, it is stated that the practica- 

 bility of the process has not as yet been established, but that enough of impor- 

 tance has been ascertained by experimentation to make it worthy of further 

 tests. If practicable the process promises a reduction in the cost of beet sugar. 



Under the direction of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 278 acres of American- 

 grown seed yielded 14..32 tons per acre, with an average sugar content of 14.0 

 per cent or 4,267 lbs. of sugar per acre, while imported seed gave an average 

 yield of 12.14 tons per acre, with a svigar content of l.l.l jier cent, or 3,(>6(5 lbs. 

 of sugar per acre. Twenty acres of seed beets, all of which analyzed 22 jier cent 

 or more of sugar, were grown at Fairfield, Wash., during the year. About 

 15,000 lbs. of seed were secured from these beets. 



Sugar beet industry, K. Hakcourt {Ann. Rpt. Ontario Agr. Col. and E.rpt. 

 Farm. 32 (1906), pp. 00-71). — The results of variety tests with sugar beets indi- 

 cated that Rubensamen and Improved Imperial are eiiual in purity to Klein- 

 wanzleben and contain slightly more sugar. Distance experiments conducted 

 for 5 years showed a regular difference in the weight of the beets as the dis- 

 tance between the rows increased from 12 to 28 in. There was. however, no 

 corresponding decreas-e in the percentage of solids and sugar or in the purity. 

 It is believed that the best general results are obtained in rows phlced as closely 

 as possible without seriously inconveniencing the work of cultivation. 



The chemistry of the sugar cane and its products in Louisiana, C. A. 

 Browne. Jr., and R. E. Blouin (T.oiiisiana Sta.^. Bill. !U. pp. 103). — This bulletin 

 presents a summary of data collected during the past few years by the Louisiana 

 Sugar Experiment Station. 



