28 SUGAR fiEET SEED. 



more than five growers in the wOrld givingf entire sat- 

 isfaction to all interfested. Just why this has been the 

 case has already been hinted at in the foregoing. It is 

 a great mistake to purchase beet seed through a second 

 or third hand, as the chances of fraud are then always 

 greater, and when they do occur the seed grower is at 

 a disadvantage, as his name is connected with the 

 product sold. 



The several existing varieties of beets are named 

 after their originators, and as they have not the sarre 

 external characteristics, they may be distinguished one 

 from the other; consequently, there is evidently some 

 important relation between the methods of selection 

 and the ultimate shape of the root created. Beet seed 

 of superior quality is frequently furnished by seed 

 growers one year, but the second supply is disappoint- 

 ing. Then again it also happens that experimenti 

 are made upon soils to determine their adapta- 

 bility for sugar-beet cultivation, excellent seed being- 

 used. The resulting roots show very high sugar per- 

 centage, but they are irregular in shape, which is sup- 

 posed to be the result of faulty working of the so;!. 

 Laboratory investigation of such beets would be mis- 

 leading, as they could not be worked at the sugar 

 factory, and their irregular contours are innate charac- 

 teristics. The problem in seed production 'consists m 

 obtaining a variety that will give a regular, elongated 

 beet, containing 15 per cent, sugar, with a yield that 

 may ')e depended upon. Of late years very little ij 

 said about those early maturing varieties that were 

 destined to revolutionize all others. In this who e 

 question of many varieties claiming certain yields and 

 adapted to special soils, are issues that have very little 

 practical value, since, with changed environment 

 the promises held out are not realized, and conse- 

 quently the time and energy expended in creatingthese 

 new and varied types may be considered lost. 



