OTHER FARM CROPS 621 



and harvesting must be followed in beet culture. Although it is 

 possible to raise sugar beets with little regard to these directions, 

 such a crop will usually fail to pay for itself either because the yield 

 is too small or the sugar content of the beets too low to meet factory 

 requirements. In commercial beet growing, therefore, carelessness 

 leads quickly to failure, while careful regard for details spells suc- 

 cess. Success comes at first from following the advice of successful 

 growers, and later it may be augmented by practical experience. 

 Certain economies can be practiced, but they should never consist in 

 planting a smaller quantity of seed than is prescribed, nor in locating 

 the beet field on poor land. 



In the manufacture of sugar from the beet, the farmer plays an 

 important part by supplying beets in an adequate quantity and of a 

 high quality ; but beyond that he can hardly hope to enter the field. 

 (F. B. 52 Revision 1910.) 



Varieties of Beets. Botanically all kinds of sugar beets are of 

 the same species as the common garden beet (Beta vulgaris). The 

 difference between varieties have arisen from selection and breeding. 

 Certain valuable peculiarities resulting from natural variations or 

 mutations have, through careful selection, been fixed, and pure 

 strains having these superior qualities associated with certain dis- 

 tinguishing external characters have been developed. The shape 

 and size of the beet, its color, the character of the foliage, whether 

 erect or spreading, etc., are the most frequent marks of distinction. 

 The beets are also frequently designated by the names of those who 

 have developed them, or by the name of the town or locality in which 

 they have been grown. 



Among the more frequently occurring varieties grown in Europe 

 may be mentioned the Improved Kleinwanzlebener, the Kleinwanz- 

 lebener, and the Vilmorin, the two latter being most widely known 

 in this country. Sugar manufacturers prefer those varieties which 

 yield a high percentage of sugar, since the juices are purer and the 

 expenses of manufacture and the cost of the raw material are less. 

 Large beets yielding a large tonnage were usually grown in Europe 

 prior to the adoption of legislation placing a tax on the beet itself 

 instead of on the sugar, and were preferred on account of the value 

 of the pulp for cattle feeding. 



The certainty that the seed has been grown according to the 

 most scientific methods is of great importance to the beet grower 

 and sugar manufacturer, since the former may depend upon produc- 

 ing rich beets and receiving fair compensation for his labor and the 

 latter is enabled to operate his factory economically. The beet has 

 reached such a high state of perfection as to make the least degree 

 of laxity in its treatment exceedingly dangerous to its qualities. 



The best beet for general cultivation is probably the Klein- 

 wanzlebener, which seems now t have a wider cultivation in this 

 country than any other variety. It has a conical root, straight and 

 even, quite large at the head and rapidly tapering, and is distin- 

 guished from the Improved Vilmorin by its brighter color and its 



