112 



CULTUKE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 



that at this depth, other things being equal, a higher percentage of the 

 seeds will grow than at any other. 



In all of the beet-growing districts of Europe the system of planting 

 in rows has been adopted, but in later years the attention and experi- 

 ments of the progressive men have been directed to the determination of 

 the influence of the distance between the rows and the beets in the rows 

 upon the yield per acre and the saccharine value of the crops. In ear- 

 lier years the practice was to separate the roots to such an extent that 

 each square yard of surface should be devoted to six roots, but the, expe- 

 rience of later years has shown that it is better to increase the number 

 for thjs surface to ten. The extent of separation must naturally vary 

 with the character of the soil and the seed grown. If in rich soils the 

 roots be widely separated from each other they have at their disposition 

 more of nutritive materials, and there is, of course, a tendency to the 

 production of large roots, which, we have seen, will contain more of min- 

 eral and organic impurities and less of sugar. On the other hand^if 

 grown more closely the stock of nutriment is less, the beets are smaller 

 and longer, and consequently richer. Yet, notwithstanding the smaller 

 volume of the beet produced, the weight of the total yield per acre is 

 very much larger than when the roots are separated to greater distances. 

 These facts are amply illustrated iu the results of the experiments of 

 various workers in the sugar-growing districts of France. 



The following table shows the averages of the results obtained from 

 experiments made by the Societe cV Agriculture de Compiegne in concert 

 with the Comite des Fabricants de Sucre de VOise. This recapitulation 

 is made simply according to the separation, and without regard to the 

 fertilizers employed. 



[Distance between the rows, 18 inches.] 



Distance between beets in 

 the rows. 



Ten inches 



Fourteen inches 

 Eighteen inches 



5S>- 



j2 M 



8,473 

 7,480 

 6,691 



Pagnoul's experiments, conducted during a series of eight years, gave 

 similar results. He concludes that close planting gives beets which 

 are, 1, richer; 2, better quality ; 3, of larger yield in weight; 4, less ex- 

 hausting to the soil. He took, for his wider separation, 20 inches be- 

 tween the rows and 20 inches between the roots in the rows, and for the 

 smaller separation 17 inches between the rows and 8 inches in the rows. 



1. The richness of sugar in percentages of the weight of root was : 



For the large distances 1Q. 2 



For the small distances 12.2 



