The Sugar-Beet Plant 29 



After the sugar is made in the leaves, it is transferred 

 from cell to cell to all parts of the plant, where it is used 

 in the formation of starch, cellulose, and the other com- 

 pounds. Thus the greater part of all plants comes from 

 water and the air and only a comparatively small amount 

 from the soil. An especially large part of the sugar-beet 

 is made of air and water. As the leaves grow older, the 

 percentage of ash in them increases and the nitrogen de- 

 creases. The old practice of stripping part of the leaves 

 from the beets is harmful, since it reduces the formation 

 of sugar. 



THE STORAGE OF SUGAR 



Although the sugar-beet plant begins the manufacture 

 of sugar and other compounds almost as soon as the first 

 leaves are formed, very little material is stored at this 

 time, since all the food gathered is needed for growth. 

 The plant is- adding to itself rapidly and is sending out 

 new roots and leaves; hence none of the sugar manu- 

 factured in the leaves is available for storage. It goes 

 into the production of more leaves and roots and to the 

 general growth of the plant. 



After the sugar-beet has produced most of its growth 

 and approaches maturity, it stores sugar very rapidly. 

 Practically all the sugar manufactured by the leaves dur- 

 ing the latter part of the season is stored in the root in 

 order that the plant may use it the next year in produc- 

 ing seed. The storage is not uniform in the various parts 

 of the root. This is shown in Fig. 6, which was taken from 

 analyses reported by Briem. 1 This drawing shows that 

 1 '* American Sugar Beet Growers' Annual," 1908, p. 67. 



