ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 15 



PLANTING SUPER-ELITE SEED FOR GROWING 

 "MOTHER BEETS" 



Sandy loam soils offer the least physical and chem- 

 ical obstacles for developing uniform beets, true to 

 type, and hence are preferred to the heavier clay soils. 

 The soils of the fields used for growing the selected 

 super-elite seed are placed in excellent chemical and 

 physical condition. They are fertilized scientifically 

 and worked thoroughly to great depth until the best 

 garden conditions have been attained. 



To avoid errors resulting from local conditions, field 

 trials of selected strains of beet seed, to be planted 

 for the purpose of breeding " mother beets," are con- 

 ducted on more than one farm, and oftentimes in more 

 than one section of the country. 



Ten or twelve pounds of the super-elite seed is re- 

 quired for each acre. It is planted by hand or by drills 

 and covered to a depth of f of an inch. As there still 

 is a diversity of opinion regarding the most desirable size 

 of mothers, and as the closer they grow the less size they 

 attain, the spacing varies from 8X8 to 12X12 inches. 



The spacing demands experience and cannot be con- 

 ducted by ordinary field workers. The cultivating and 



