74 THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



more or less water, Wiley maintains that an average summer precipitation of 2 to 4 

 inches per month is desirable. Nebraska experience shows that a good crop is as- 

 sured, provided other things are done properly, if May and June are warm and not 

 too wet, July and August wet and not too hot, September and October warm and 

 dry. 



The longer the season the more favorable to this industry, in California, plant- 

 ing begins as early as January on the higher and dryer soils and continues until June 

 on the lower and more moist lands, thus maturing the crop continually from about the 

 first of August to almost the new year. In the vicinity of Watsonville, planting of the 

 '97 crop began as early as Jan 15, while the last of the '96 crop was hardly out of the 

 ground on the last day of the year. In other parts of the country, the planting has to 

 be done in a short time, usually during May, because the ground is too cold and later 

 the season will be so short as to prevent maturity before frost. 



Another advantage in the mild climate is the longer period of harvesting. As 

 just noted in California, beets may be harvested during the last five months of the 

 year, whereas in most other sections, the digging must be completed before hard 

 frosts. It has been assumed that beets would keep longer in the mild winter of Cali- 

 fornia (where frost is almost unknown) than in the severe winters of the north and 

 east. It has been customary to keep the beets in cold climates in silos but Utah ex- 

 perience during the winter of '96-7 indicates that such protection against cold may 

 not be as necessary as has been supposed. This point is further discussed under the 

 head of storing beets. Certain it is that a climate which allows a factory to run from 

 100 to 150 days in ordinary seasons is far more advantageous than sections where the 

 mill can not have good beets to run on more than 80 or 100 days. 



VARIETIES OF BEETS. 



"All kinds of sugar beets are botanically identical with the common garden beet, 

 Beta vulgaris. The differences in varieties have arisen by reason of special selection 

 and culture producing a pure strain of some valuable peculiarity in the beet. These 

 accidental valuable qualities by careful selection have become fixed and are associ- 

 ated with certain external properties which have thus come to be regarded as distin- 

 guishing characteristics. 



"The shape and size of the beet, its color, the character of its 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 Europe in which they have been grown, or by 

 their color. 



"Among the more frequently occurring varieties grown in Europe may be men- 

 tioned the Vilmorin Improved, Klein Wanzlebener, Improved Klein Wanzlebener, 

 White Excelsior, White Imperial, Simon Le Grande, Florimond and Bulteau Desprez 

 Kichest, Brabrant Sugar Beet, Eose Imperial, White Silesian, etc, 



"The two varieties which have been most widely grown in this country are the 

 Vilmorin Improved and the Klein Wanzlebener. The certainty that the seed has 

 been grown according to the most scientific methods is of greater importance to the 

 beet grower than the variety. The beet has reached such a high state of perfection 



