88 CULTURE OF THE SUGAE BEET. 



Dubrunfant is of the opinion that seeds having the highest specific 

 gravity are more suitable for planting than those of lower density. He 

 effects a separation by placing the seeds in water and after a time re- 

 moving those which float, preserving those which sink to the bottom of 

 the containing vessel. He states that the two qualities of seed behave 

 quite differently both in germination and during growth. Champion 

 and Pellet* quote Basset as saying, " It is well to do the same for seeds 

 as is done for roots for reproduction, and choose the heavier ones, or 

 those that fall to the bottom of a bath prepared with water and salt." 



The chemical composition of the seed has also been the subject of 

 study by different chemists. 



Dubrunfant, t by a chemical examination of the seeds taken from a crop 

 of 30 acres of sugar and forage beets, and furnished him by the house of 

 Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co., in Paris, found that the seeds of the sugar- 

 yielding races give upon incineration a smaller weight of ash than the 

 forage races, and the differences, which vary within certain limits, are 

 all, with few exceptions, in the same direction. Comparing weights of 

 seed taken and ashes produced, the proportion for the sugar-forming 

 races varies between 4.50 and 6.50 per cent. The forage races give from 

 6 to 14 per cent., making an average of 7 to 8, which is very different 

 from the proportion given by sugaf -yielding races. 



It also appears that the ash of the sugar-forming races is richer in 

 phosphoric acid, potash, and even magnesia. Thus the seeds of the 

 sugar races give 0.004 to 0.008 per cent, of their weight of phosphoric 

 acid, while the seeds of forage beets gives but 0.0002 to 0.0005 per cent. 

 A similar relation exists for the potash. Thus for the sugar races a 

 sufficient quantity is always present to develop a green color with the 

 manganese in the ash by fusion, while in the forage races this is not the 

 case. But if to the ash of the latter a small quantity of potash be added, 

 the characteristic green coloration produced by manganese is readily 

 developed by the application of heat. 



The conclusions of Dubrunfant confirm the results of the analyses of 

 Pellet.^ 



Per cent, of 

 ash in dry matter. 



Vilmorin seed (average) 6.0 



Sugar beets 7.4 



Forage beets 8. 



* La Betlrave a Sucre, p. 29. 

 t La Sucrerie Indigene, xiii, 428. 

 t La Bettrave a Sucre, p. 31. 



