ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 19 



Number of Per Cent. Sugar 



Leaves. in Beet. 



42 15-7 



39 14-8 



3i 13-8 



23 12.2 



IQ II.7 



The size of the crown of the beet also is noted, for it 

 must be neither too large not too pinched. 



It required generations of study and experimentation 

 to be able to read these and numerous other signs 

 which indicate the breeding qualities desired of a 

 beet, but now they are as an open book to the trained 

 eye of the expert who stakes the, beets whose foliage 

 and crown meet his approbation. 



SECOND PHYSICAL SELECTION 



Having passed their first physical selection, the 

 beets which are staked and are destined for "mothers" 

 are carefully dug, when the roots themselves are 

 examined as carefully as were the leaves. They must 

 be of good size and length; not too short or their 

 radicles will not draw sufficient moisture and nourish- 

 ment from the soil; not too long and slender or they 

 will lose their tips when plowed out. If the taper 

 begins near the top, the tonnage will be low; they 



