THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY IN 1920. 55 



Sugar-beet producing areas may sometimes be extended by bring- 

 ing in lands not previously under cultivation, by the development or 

 extension of suitable means of irrigation, or by instituting or extend- 

 ing a suitable drainage system which will reclaim lands not now 

 under cultivation. In this manner areas that are now capable of sup- 

 plying but one mill with raw material may eventually be made to 

 supply two. or more mills. In all cases the necessary acreage for the 

 maintenance of a mill should be in sight, without injury to existing 

 mills or to local growers, before any money is expended in the erec- 

 tion of another mill. If this point is kept in mind, some of the finan- 

 cial losses and disappointments which investors have experienced in 

 the past will be avoided. 



SUGAR-BEET SEED. 



One of the most important factors influencing beet-sugar produc- 

 tion is that of seed. Not only must there be an adequate supply of 

 seed to plant the necessary acreage for each sugar factory, but the 

 seed must be of high grade ; that is, it must be capable of germinating 

 so that a good stand will be produced, and it must be capable of pro- 

 ducing beets of satisfactory yield and quality. The present varieties 

 of sugar-beet seed are apparently very much mixed, as indicated by 

 commercial fields in all parts of the beet area. Efforts are being 

 made at each of the beet-seed stations of the Office of Sugar-Plant 

 Investigations to produce distinct strains of sugar beets of high 

 quality for commercial planting. An endeavor is being made to in- 

 crease the yield and quality of the seed and to establish an American 

 beet-seed industry capable of meeting all domestic requirements. 



Imported seed. — Until within recent years practically all sugar- 

 beet seed planted in the United States Avas imported from Europe. 

 This imported seed consisted of more than 20 so-called varieties, 

 many of these varieties being simply strains bearing the name of 

 the growers or the locality where the seed was produced. There ap- 

 pears to be little difference in results between the varieties imported. 

 More seems to depend upon soil and climatic conditions and the cul- 

 tural methods used in growing the crop than upon the particular 

 variety of seed used. 



Home-grown seed. — In recent years efforts have been made to 

 produce American strains of sugar-beet seed and to produce them 

 in commercial quantities in this country. In 1917 about 5,000 acres 

 of beet seed were grown, yielding about 55,000 sacks of seed, and a 

 still larger crop of American-grown seed has been produced with 

 each succeeding year. In 1920 about one-third of the sugar-beet seed 

 required by American growers was produced in the United States. 

 Even with an increased home production, we must continue for some 



