74 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



in dollars. Not only was the thinning expensive, but 

 careful German experiments had shown that unless 

 beets were thinned at exactly the right time, the loss 

 in tonnage, due to the injury to the remaining beetlet 

 by reason of pulling up the superfluous plants, was 

 very great. One German experiment conducted on 

 four plots of ground where all conditions of seed, soil 

 and care, except the time of thinning, were the same, 

 had given the following results : 



Plot No. i, thinned at the right time, yielded 15 tons of beets. 



2, " one week later, 13! " " " 



3, " still one week later 10 " " " 



4, ' ' still another week later 7 " " " 



Now if the very womb of the seed germ could be so 

 changed as to contain but one germ instead of several, 

 a single seed could be planted in a place, the cost of 

 the hand work of thinning could be saved and the 

 tonnage would be increased from 25 to 40 per cent., 

 for beets rarely, if ever, are thinned at just the right 

 moment. Even when they are, the shock caused 

 by removing the intertwined roots is severe. With 

 but one beetlet growing in a place, they would be 

 entirely free from shock. 



To insure a good stand, the beet-balls could be 



