IMPORTANCE OF SUGAR BEETS 487 



The development of the beet as a sugar-producing plant 

 dates to about 1800, when German chemists began to experi- 

 ment in the production of sugar from plants which could be 

 grown in temperate cUmates. The increase in sugar content 

 of the beet root from 6 to about 16 per cent is the result of 

 careful breeding. The beet-sugar industry has been and is 



Figure 143. — Sugar beets of the most desirable type. 



an immensely valuable one in Germany and other European 

 countries, and it is rapidly developing in the United States. 

 584. Importance. Of the 8,757,000 tons of beet sugar 

 produced in the world from the 1914-15 crop, 6,469,000 tons, 

 or nearly three fourths, were produced in Germany, Russia, 

 and Austria-Hungary. The development of the beet-sugar 

 industry in the United States is of comparatively recent 

 date. It was not till 1906 that the production of sugar from 

 beets in this countiy exceeded that from sugar cane. In 

 1900, the production of beet sugar amounted to 76,589 long 

 tons, while that of cane sugar was 278,470 long tons, or 

 nearly four times as much. In 1910, the production of beet 



