92 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



requiring upward of 750,000 acres of beets to insure satisfactory 

 runs, farmers are still depending upon foreign countries for the 

 major portion of their seed. It is true, efforts have been made 

 in certain quarters for many years to produce sugar-beet seed 

 in this country, but prior to 1914 they were largely experimental. 

 The first carefully planned effort to grow sugar-beet seed in the 

 United States was made at Schuyler, Neb., in 1891. These ex- 

 periments were continued for several years under the direction 

 of Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, at that time chief of the Bureau of 

 Chemistry of the United States Department of Agriculture. 

 The results with this seed, in comparison with imported vari- 

 eties, showed that the American-grown seed had a higher vitality 

 and that the roots produced from this seed possessed a higher 

 sugar content and gave heavier yield than any of the imported 

 varieties tested. 



For a number of years the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture conducted experiments in sugar-beet seed growing at 

 Fairfield, Wash., with results similar to those obtained at Schuyler, 

 Neb., with reference to both the vitality of the seed and the quality 

 ,and weight of roots produced. For many years several sugar 

 companies have grown small quantities of commercial sugar- 

 beet seed, and within the past year two of these beet-sugar 

 companies have greatly increased their beet -seed acreage. In 

 some cases the roots used for this purpose have been produced 

 from the commercial imported seed, while in other instances 

 special seed was used. The results of these tests have been 

 successful from the standpoint of germination of the seed and 

 the yield and quality of the roots produced. While .there is 

 abundant proof, therefore, that sugar-beet seed satisfactory in 



