Production of Su gar-Beet Seed 215 



single seed. More than a hundred heads of wheat have 

 been reported to come from a single seed. In this way 

 the plant tends to use all the food and moisture that is 

 available in the soil even with a comparatively thin stand. 

 Beets have no such power to make up for a thin stand. 

 The roots may be somewhat larger where they are not 

 crowded ; but if many of the seeds fail to germinate, it 

 is impossible to secure a satisfactory yield. If there are 

 blank spaces in the beet rows, the yield will be reduced 

 by just that much. For this reason it is important to 

 make careful germination tests of every lot of seed that 

 is offered for sale. Particularly is this true of seed that 

 is stained and dark in color, indicating that it has been wet. 



SOURCES OF SEED 



Until the last few years, practically all of the sugar- 

 beet seed used in America was imported from Europe. 

 This was not because it could not be raised in America, 

 but because foreign seed could be obtained at a low price 

 and it was much less trouble to secure it in this way than 

 to produce it at home. The sugar companies arranged 

 for the seed ; they were in the business of making sugar 

 and not of producing seed ; hence they took the line of 

 least resistance and purchased the seed where it could be 

 obtained easiest. For this reason, a home seed industry 

 was never developed. This method of procuring seed 

 was satisfactory as long as everything went well, but it 

 had its decided disadvantage. 



The seed requirements of the United States for the 

 next few years probably will reach nearly 15,000,000 



