116 THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



of breeding beets for seed, as that is what it amounts to. Naturally, the business of 

 producing the seed begins under and is fostered by the. factory management. It is 

 greatly to the credit of the American manufacturers that they have thus early taken 

 the initial steps. But, as has been indicated, the attendant expense, the necessity 

 for special knowledge, and rhe extreme care necessary at every step, soon throws the 

 business into the hands of specialists. 



As has been intimated, the problem presents two important phases, first to pro- 

 duce seed of a very high grade, and, second, to maintain this grade against a constant 

 tendency to retrogression. The solution of these questions has demanded not only 

 the practical experience and skill of seed men, but all the resources of scientific in- 

 vestigation. For these reasons there has grown up in the sugar-beet-producing re- 

 gions of Europe a class of professional beet-seed growers. Some of these, as Dippe 

 Brothers, Knauer and Schreiber, in Germany ; and Vilmorin, Desprez, and Legras, in 

 France, have made reputations world-wide and have amassed fortunes in the busi- 

 ness. Their methods are based on strictly scientific principles. Details of procedure 

 vary according as this or that feature is made more prominent. In no case do 

 these, or other reputable growers, allow seed to go on the market until it has reached 

 a certain standard of excellence through several years of upbreeding. 



As an example of the extreme care necessary to maintain seed at a high grade, I 

 will briefly outline the ordinary practice of the Dippe Brothers, on their extensive 

 beet farms at Quedlinburg, Prussia. Assuming, for the start, seed 01 the highest at- 

 tainable quality. This is planted in the spring in the usual manner and the crop 

 cared for in all respects as a good beet farmer would handle a crop for the factory. 

 In the fall, at the time of harvest, the beets are carefully examined as to their phys- 

 ical characteristics of form, color, size, shape, condition of leaves, and method of 

 growth. Those coming up to a standard previously fixed upon are reserved for seed, 

 while all others go to the factory. This selection usually reserves from one-sixth to 

 one-eighth of the crop as mother beets for the next season. In the early spring of 

 the second year, these mother beets are taken from the silo and subjected to a chemi- 

 cal analysis, for the purpose of securing, for planting, only those of high sugar con- 

 tent and purity. 



The analytical process, in brief, consists in taking a small sample from each indi- 

 vidual beet in such a manner as to fairly represent the whole beet this does not in 

 any way injure the root for planting. The juice is then expressed from the sample 

 and polarized. In this way, all of the beets reserved the previous fall are divided 

 into three classes, viz : First, those that fall below a certain minimum per cent of 

 sugar, say 16 per cent, these go to the feed, stable ; second, those that in sugar con- 

 tent run ret veen 16 per cent and 18 per cent will be planted as seed-producing or 

 mother beets; third, those that run above 18 per cent in sugar will be planted for 

 seed to keep up the stock. 



For convenience, we will call these Classes I, II and III, and confine our atten- 

 tion to Class II. When this chemical selection has finally been made, the beets in 

 Class II are planted. In the autumn the seed stalks are cut, the seed thrashed out, 

 cleaned, and put away for the winter. In the following spring the third from the 

 start this seed is planted, but in a manner a little different from the ordinary, inas- 



