60 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



SEED GROWING IN CALIFORNIA 



Some years ago J. B. Agnew & Company, of Agnew, 

 California, near San Francisco, produced commercial 

 seed for several seasons, but the enterprise did not 

 meet with success and was abandoned. C. C. Morse 

 & Company also gave the work a thorough test, but 

 were unable to produce seed successfully. At Oxnard, 

 in southern California, the American Beet Sugar 

 Company conducted extensive experiments in seed 

 growing for a number of years, but finally gave up 

 the effort. 



The main trouble in California is that such a large 

 percentage of the mother beet seed is liable to go to 

 seed the first year. While some years but 5 per cent, 

 of the seed would develop seed stalks the first season, 

 other years, under identical cultural conditions, 80 

 per cent, would develop seed stalks the first year. 

 This inconsistency is attributed to the average uni- 

 form temperature, which does not insure a complete 

 check of the selected mother beets during the winter. 



To overcome this difficulty, specially constructed 

 siloes for the mothers were prepared and the mothers 

 were planted at various dates, but the effort did. not 



