64 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



"This year (1891) also saw the beginning of raising sugar beet 

 seed from analyzed mother beets. A small quantity of seed from 

 several varieties was grown. When planted the next year the 

 beets grown gave a promising increase over the mothers planted 

 for seed. In some instances 3 per cent more sugar was found. 

 Thus by selection a 15 per cent beet was raised to 18 per cent. 

 This is mentioned here, since this small beginning has borne fruit 

 in the splendid achievements of the present time. . . . 



"The object of the new work was to breed up strains of sugar 

 beets in which the individuals should give uniformly high sugar 

 percentages, while the beets should be large enough to make a 

 profitable tonnage for the farmer. 



"The first year of this work in co-operation with the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry (U. S. Department of Agriculture), Dr. Townsend 

 secured 26 different varieties of sugar beet and stock beet seeds. 

 The sugar beet seed was from the best American and foreign 

 growers who were furnishing our factories with commercial seed. 



"Each variety was planted and when ripe the variety was har- 

 vested and the beets, after a thorough sorting for shape, type and 

 size, were siloed in a cool cellar. Later they were all brought 

 to the laboratory and each beet was analyzed separately. Any 

 sugar beet that failed to have 15 per cent sugar in the beet this 

 year was rejected. This severe culling process left good beets 

 of proper form and size with at least a good commercial per cent 

 of sugar. Some varieties were thrown out entirely. And of the 

 beets saved in the field in some varieties the number of rejected 

 beets were small, in others it amounted to as much as 20 per cent. 



"We were unable at this time to cull closer than this. But 

 some varieties gave one or two beets out of the whole number 

 analyzed that went up to 20 per cent sugar in the beet, and one 

 gave 24.8 per cent sugar. These few best ones were planted sep- 

 arately and sacked so they self-fertilized, thus giving us the begin- 

 nings of new strains. 



