24 THE SEED-GROWER. 



Market. Beet seed is handled extensively by the 

 trade. Some estimate of its consumption in the entire 

 country may be formed when it is stated that upwards 

 of 150,000 pounds of seed of the staple table varieties 

 are now sold annually by the combined trade in the 

 four large cities of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia 

 and Detroit; considerable quantities are also handled 

 by seed houses in other large centres, such as Boston, 

 Baltimore, Cincinnati, St. Louis, San Francisco, etc. 



The greater portion of the beet seed used in the 

 United States comes from Europe. Not that the cli- 

 mate and soil over there are better suited for its pro- 

 duction than is the case in this country, but because 

 there are comparatively few growing establishments 

 here as yet and their operations are not extensive. 

 This European beet seed is of high standard, but seed 

 equally as good is produced in the United States, and 

 there should be no occasion for importation of a single 

 pound. Wherever its production has been undertaken 

 in such sections as the Connecticut valley, Eastern, 

 Washington, and Northern California, most excellent 

 seed, fully up to the standard of European production, 

 has been obtained; and it has cost no more to grow 

 than it does in Europe. 



In a favorable season, a yield of table varieties of 

 beet seed is from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds per acre; in 

 Europe, for the field sorts, namely, Sugar beet and 

 Mangold Wurtzel, from 2,000 to 2,500 pounds per acre 

 have been produced. 



In prices, European grown seed of table varieties, 

 such as Egyptian, Blood Turnip, Long Blood, is laid 

 down in New York at eleven to thirteen cents per 

 pound; field varieties l at five to eight cents per pound 



