ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 27 



draw nutriment from every cubic inch of soil to a 

 depth of several feet. 



These " mother beets," which have passed every 

 scientific examination to which they can be subjected 

 by the botanist and the chemist, are of great value. 

 Not only are they carefully guarded from theft, but 

 to secure .the maximum amount of mature seed from 

 a given quantity of mothers, wherever practical the 

 ' 'mothers" are dismembered and planted in several places. 



Nine square feet of soil only will nourish a certain 

 number of seed stalks. A large " mother " sends up 

 a great number of seed stalks and forms more seed 

 than can be matured. Suppressing a portion of the 

 stalks was tried, but the efforts were futile, and so, 

 except where the "mothers" are small, they are dis- 

 membered. 



Where the "mothers" are small, a whole one is planted 

 in each three-foot square, but where the mothers are 

 large and have a great number of leaf eyes, they are 

 sliced vertically, sometimes into as many as twenty 

 pieces, care being exercised to see that each segment 

 contains a sufficient number of leaf eyes to furnish 

 the requisite number of seed stalks. The wounds 

 are dressed with an antiseptic and one segment is 

 planted in a place. Thus one mother may be made 



