Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 221 



abandoned. Wliether or not the single-germ beet seed 

 is practical, only the future can demonstrate. There can 

 be no doubt, however, about the desirability of having 

 seed of this kind. 



BREEDING (PLATE XXV) 



There are two distinct phases to the sugar-beet-seed 

 business: (1) the breeding of desirable strains, and 

 (2) the commercial production of seed. This is true to 

 an extent in every branch of plant and animal production. 

 The man who is engaged in that phase of dairying which 

 deals with commercial milk production may be entirely 

 dependent on some breeder of dairy stock for his cows ; 

 likewise, the man who is breeding some new and desirable 

 type of plant may not be interested in the general seed 

 trade. The orflinary individual farmer probably will 

 never take an important part in breeding sugar-beets; 

 he may, however, engage in the commercial production 

 of sugar-beet seed, using as his start "mother seed" that 

 has been produced by a professional breeder. 



Chemical test of mothers. 



The breeding of sugar-beets is not so simple as that of 

 most other crops, the quality of which can usually be 

 determined by examination. With beets, the important 

 factor, the sugar-content, can be determined only after 

 making a chemical analysis. Some selection of beets 

 has been made by specific gravity as determined in a 

 brine solution. This method, while it indicates to a 

 certahi extent the amount of sugar, is so inexact that it 



