ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 9 



Whatever value has been acquired by years of patient 

 scientific work on the part of the seed grower is repre- 

 sented by this super-elite seed, which easily might 

 be worth $250 to $1000 per pound. 



The balance of the seed from the original laboratory 

 mother beets, all of which had to pass the various exam- 

 inations successfully, but which tested slightly lower 

 in some characteristic than did the mothers whose 

 seed was selected to be used for breeding purposes, is 

 known a^ '" elite" seed. This elite seed is used to grow 

 a crop ,<p stecklinge" mothers, or " stick" mothers, 

 so named because of the fact that the seed being planted 

 alid allowed to grow thickly, the beets grow long and 

 slender, and these " stecklinge" mothers could be planted 

 by pressing a pointed stick into the well-prepared 

 ground, and after removing the stick the beet could be 

 inserted in the hole. 



Commercial beet seed is the product of the "steck- 

 ling" mothers, thus commercial beets are two removes 

 from the original laboratory beets, which are their 

 grandmothers. 



