Sugar Beets. 101 



Of course I am not speaking of the origin of the 

 sugarbeet itself. We know as Httle of its origin as we do 

 of the origin of the other varieties of beets. The Romans 

 probably had only two sorts which they used as vege- 

 tables, which they cultivated in their gardens and col- 

 lected in the wild state. ^ At the beginning of the nine- 

 teenth century there were numerous kinds. The ques- 

 tion arises : did they originate from the older forms in 

 culture, or were they first found as distinct subspecies 

 in nature ? We do not know. That they had a common 

 origin we do not doubt, but whether they originated be- 

 fore or during cultivation remains a mystery. 



The beet with which Vilmorin began his work half 

 a century ago must be regarded simply as a starting 

 point; artificial selection is responsible only for what it 

 has given rise to. 



As far back as 1830-1840 Vilmorin had selected 

 his beets according to their external form. In 1851 he 

 determined the saccharine contents of single roots and 

 found that it varied from 7-14%, but the troublesome 

 nature of the methods of estimation available at that 

 time only permitted of the determination of compara- 

 tively few instances. He discovered the best beets by 

 their high specific gravity in salt solutions, sowed the 

 seeds which they produced and got beets with 21% sugar 

 in the second generation.^ 



These figures (7-14-21%) are very important in this 

 connection. It must be remembered of course that they 

 cannot be compared very exactly with the results of 

 recent work because the method has become much more 



^ Plinius, N. H. Lib. 19. See also Columella and Cicero 

 (Note of 1908). 



^L. LEyEQUE DE Vilmorin, Notices snr I'auiclioration dcs f^lantes 

 par le semis. 2d edition, 1886; see especially p. 2y. 



