45-2 FIELD CROPS 



The development of the beet as a sugar-producing plant 

 dates to about 1800, when German chemists began to experi- 

 ment in the production of sugar from plants which could be 

 grown in temperate climates. The increase in sugar content 

 of the beet root from 6 to about 16 per cent is the result of 

 their careful breeding. The beet sugar industry has been 

 and is an immensely valuable one in Germany and other 

 European countries, and it is rapidly developing in the 

 United States. 



Fig. 139. Sugar beets of the most desirable type. 



594. Importance. Of the 8,576,000 tons of beet sugar 

 produced in the world from the 1910 crop, 6,347,000 tons, 

 or nearly three-fourths, were produced in Germany, Russia, 

 and Austria-Hungary. The development of the beet- 

 sugar industry in the United States is of comparatively recent 

 date. It was not till 1906 that the production of sugar from 

 beets in this country exceeded that from sugar cane. In 



