53 



As regards its preservation, it is recognised that it holds its 

 sugar content better than any other variety, and for that reason, in 

 those factories in which the '' Improved Vilmorin " is manufactured 

 in connection with other varieties, it is the custom to keep this for 

 the end of the season and to work up the less reliable beets soon 

 alter they have been pulled. It is also claimed to resist better than 

 any other variety the unfavourable influence of certain soils, such 

 as black soils, rich in organic matter, and of certain manures, while 

 most other varieties under these circumstances become watery and 

 saline in excess, thus seriously deteriorating the quantity as well as 

 the quality of the sugar and checking its extraction. 



This variety is very extensively grown w r here the excise tax is 

 paid on the beet itself and not on the manufactured sugar. 



2. Green-lop Brabant sugar beet. The top, which protrudes 

 from the earth about a couple of inches, is coloured green and 

 carries a foliage vigorous in growth and upright in position. The 

 root is long, smooth and white. It is a very prolific and vigorous 

 variety, requires deep soil, well tilled, the weight of the crop 

 averaging 20 tons per acre, containing about 12 per cent, of sugar, 

 representing about i ton 5 cwt. of extracted sugar to the acre. 



3. French rich sugar bed. A variation of the Brabant beet, 

 preserving in its general aspect, and notably in its foliage, many of 

 the characteristics of the Brabant. It differs distinctly from it in 

 the fact that it grows entirely under the soil, is more slender, with 

 a more reddish skin and more compact flesh. Its yield averages 

 1 6 tons of roots per acre, containing 14 per cent, of sugar, which 

 represents i ton 12 cwt. of extractable sugar. 



4. White red-top sugar beet. Is about equal to Brabant green- 

 top in yield and percentage of sugar, but it does not require such 

 deep soil, and ripens earlier. It is very extensively grown in 

 countries where the tax is paid on the manufactured sugar or on 

 the alcohol and not on the roots. 



5. Early red-skin sugar beet. Is a very good and distinct kindj 

 growing entirely under ground, with leaves lying flat on the soil. 

 It yields about 16 tons to the acre, containing 14 per cent, of sugar, 

 or i ton 12 cwt. of extractable sugar. It ripens early and keeps 

 well. 



6. Klcin-Wanzleben sugar beet. Has a wider cultivation than 

 any other sugar beet. The root is conic.il, straight and even, quite 

 large at the head, and rapidly tapering. It has a brighter colour 

 than the improved Vilmorin, which enters largely in the cross from 

 which it comes ; its leaves are lighter coloured, undulating, and 

 scalloped about the edges. This variety succeeds w^ell in soil of an 

 alluvial nature and mean richness and on level plateaus. In soils 

 very rich in humus it ripens poorly and loses much of its richness. 

 It yields slightly heavier crops than the improved Vilmorin, but its 

 saccharine richness does not exceed 14 per cent. 



