THE BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



117 



much as the rows are closer together and the beets are thinned to a distance of from 

 three to four inches, the object being to produce a very small and rich beet. The 

 usual summer care is given, and in the autumn these very small beets are harvested; 

 another selection on the basis of their physical characteristics is made, and those re- 

 tained are carefully stored for the winter. In the spring of the fourth year these 

 small and very rich beets are planted for seed production. According to this method, 

 seed to be offered for sale comes on the market in time to be planted during the fifth 

 year after the first steps in its production were taken. This plan, or one similar, is 

 adopted by all successful seed-growing specialists in the old country. Of course, aft- 

 er the first lot is ready for market, each succeeding season furnishes a crop. The 

 only long delay comes in 

 starting. 



The questions of ex- 

 penses and profits can hard- 

 ly be touched upon in this 

 paper. During the four 

 apparently unproductive 

 years, while he is maturing 

 his first crop of seed, the 

 seed grower is marketing at 

 the factory six-sevenths of 

 his beet crop. With the 

 harvest of the first crop of 

 seed, and thereafter, he will 

 have to sell both a crop of 

 beets and a seed crop. 



Attempts to reduce such 

 propositions to a basis of 

 figures are always hazard- 

 ous. The main features, in this case, are clear enough that I will venture on some 

 approximations as to the amount of land required and the current operations and 

 expenses during the four years that the first crop is being prepared for market. 



Assuming that 80 tons of seed are needed to supply the present demand in this 

 state, and that we are to attempt to supply this with a well-bred native seed, I will 

 follow, in the main, the plan of the German seed growers. We will start the first 

 year with ten acres planted with the best seed attainable. Assuming an average 

 yield of ten tons per acre, we will harvest 100 tons of beets. Making our selection for 

 mother beets will remove from sale about one-seventh, or some fourteen tons. We 

 will have for market, then, 86 tons of beets. 



The second year will see the first year's operations repeated in every detail. In 

 addition, we have to make the chemical selection of mother beets for planting, from 

 the 14 tons reserved the previous autumn, and the planting and caring for, say, one 

 acre of seed beets. Assuming now 28,000 beets to be analyzed and selected; two 

 chemists, with proper appliances and assistants, can make 4000 tests per day, or this 

 selecting can be made in seven days at a cost not to exceed $500, including everything 



CROSS SECTION WISCONSIN SILO. 



See Page 115 for general view of these silos. The pile of beets Is abo< 

 5 feet wide and 2^ to 3 feet liUrh. covered with 1* Inches of sotl, with a (\ 

 ventilating tile every 6 feet that can be closed after the beets have sweated. 



