44 FOBAGE CEOPS IN DENMARK 



difference was calculated at the then prices for corn. At the 

 present prices the difference might be as much as 6 to 12. 



In his final report on these years' competitions l Helweg 

 summarises the result of comparing the different varieties by 

 saying, that they point in the same direction as that in which 

 the cattle breeding had developed, viz. that instead of hunting 

 for new varieties all our efforts should be directed towards 

 developing the best strains within the varieties which have 

 already found general favour ; and that " the greatest service 

 which the growers of root seed can render farmers who grow 

 roots is to reduce the number of varieties." Even at that 

 time he found that " Denmark has a more uniform crop of 

 roots than any other country." The aim should henceforth 

 be to find the best strains within the few varieties now 

 cultivated. 



The competitions from 1889 to 1899 also aimed at getting 

 information about the quality of the root seed grown in Denmark, 

 and to assist the growers of seed by giving them reliable informa- 

 tion which they could not obtain by their own exertions. In 

 the competitions between seed from Danish growers and seed 

 from Danish and foreign seed merchants the first generally came 

 out well with regard both to the weight of roots per acre and to 

 the amount of total solids per acre. It was, for instance, found, 

 both for Barres and Elvetham, that several of the imported 

 samples gave lower results than any sample from Danish seed 

 growers. It was also clearly demonstrated, " how senseless it 

 is that farmers have hitherto asked only about the weight of 

 roots grown per acre," 2 without asking about the analysis of 

 the roots. Two different strains of Eckendorf mangels were 

 compared, of which one gave a considerably larger weight of 

 roots per acre, while both gave the same amount of total solids 

 or food-stuff per acre, because the roots of the second strain, 

 although smaller, had a larger percentage of total solids. It was 

 calculated that by growing the first strain a farmer with a 

 12 acre field would have to cart 50 cart loads of water home, 

 which he could have drawn from his well much cheaper. 



1 Helweg's Report, 1901, pp. 185-87. 



2 Report by Helweg in "Om Landbrugets Kulturplanter," No. 9, K0ben- 

 havn, 1891, p. 147. 



