90 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



operating with the beet-sugar companies, after encountering 

 many difficulties succeeded in securing sufficient beet seed, with 

 the surplus then on hand, to meet the planting requirements in 

 1915; but the combined efforts of those agencies failed to secure 

 sufficient seed to meet the requirements in 1916, with the result 

 that thousands of farmers were deprived of the benefits of this 

 crop, a number of mills were idle, and consequently the capital 

 invested, amounting to several million dollars, was unproductive. 



The present seed requirements of the beet-sugar industry in 

 this country are annually not less than 150,000 sacks of 1 10 pounds 

 each. In order to insure this quantity of seed it would be neces- 

 sary to have not less than 16,000 acres devoted to seed pro- 

 duction; less than one-fourth of this acreage was harvested in 

 1916. Seven new mills were erected during 1916 and plans 

 are under way for a still larger number in 1917. Assuming the 

 average capacity of these mills to be 1000 tons of roots a day, 

 which is approximately correct, each new mill will require 10,000 

 acres of beets for a normal run. To plant 10,000 acres of beets, 

 200,000 pounds of seed, the product of approximately 200 acres 

 of land, would be required for each mill, not considering the 

 necessary replanting. It is apparent, therefore, that the present 

 acreage in seed will do little more than care for the possible ex- 

 pansion of the beet-sugar industry and that the quantity of 

 seed which must be imported will remain approximately the 

 same as heretofore. 



The beet-sugar industry in the United States is composed of 

 three distinct branches, namely, beet-seed production, sugar- 

 beet growing, and beet-sugar extraction and refining. They are 

 so linked that each is dependent upon the others, not only for 



