. 

 SUGAR : BEET SEED 



the King of Prussia a few pounds of sugar which he had 

 succeeded in producing from beets, with the result 

 that in 1801, the King financed for him the erection of 

 a small factory in Silesia, the first beet-sugar factory 

 in the world. Of all the beets experimented with by 

 Achard, the White Silesian gave the best results and 

 this variety has been used for breeding purposes by 

 seed growers throughout Europe. 



Vilmorin, of France, originated the idea of selecting 

 beets according to quality and therefore is the father 

 of modern beet breeding. At an early date, he com- 

 menced growing beets by selection, but it was not 

 in til 1830 that his work assumed real proportions, 

 after which the improvement was rapid and soon was 

 taken up at Quedlinburg, in the Province of Saxony, 

 Germany. 



Vilmorin 's first method of selection was by specific 

 gravity, a method which had been in use in Germany 

 for testing potatoes. Whole beets were dipped in a 

 salt solution of certain strength. The beets which 

 floated were rejected, while the heavier beets, which 

 sank in the brine, were selected, it being presumed that 

 they were universally higher in sugar content. 



Although it later was found that the specific gravity 

 of the beet was not correlated to the percentage of 



