28 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



to produce several times the amount of seed which 

 it would produce if planted in one place. Because of 

 liability to attack by insects and disease, mothers 

 never follow a crop of beets. 



After planting, the '"mothers" are cultivated every 

 few days until the foliage becomes so luxuriant as to 

 prevent further field work. The seed stalks frequently 

 are five feet high. 



The seed ripens in the autumn, but the seed on all 

 the seed stalks of one beet does not ripen at the same 

 time; thus it is necessary to go through the fields 

 several times, selecting and cutting the stalks on which 

 the seed is ripe. 



The stalks of the " mothers" which have been selected 

 to produce super-elite seed with which to perpetuate 

 the breeding, are tagged with the corresponding num- 

 bers which had been assigned to their " mothers" and 

 after they have been dried, the seed of each mother is 

 removed from the stalk and placed in a separate bag 

 bearing the number of the "mother." After the seed 

 is harvested the mother roots are removed from the 

 field to prevent breeding insects. 



The balance of the seed from the original selected 

 laboratory mothers is known as " elite" seed and is 

 estimated to cost from $4 to $10 per pound to produce. 



