REQUIKEMENTS OF SUGAR BEET SEED. 39 



early sowing just referred to, with practical experi- 

 ments in this direction, we find very contradictory 

 facts. If early planting is followed by annuals, then 

 nearly all beets from seed thus planted should be annu- 

 als; but since they are not, the theory advanced is not 

 borne out by facts. 



The highest authorities, however, assert that nei- 

 ther the depth nor time of sowing has the slightest 

 effect on the atavism of the root. It is admitted that 

 certain meteorological conditions may have a decided 

 influence, due to the disturbance in the natural devel- 

 opment of the beet; also certain varieties of beets, with 

 close, compact skins, resembling, as it were, the origi- 

 nal wild beet, appear to have certain annual tenden- 

 cies. Beets which have been frozen and left in the 

 ground, suffer in no small degree from the effects of 

 cold; their vitality is somewhat diminished, and the 

 beet then frequently goes to seed ; exactly on this prin- 

 ciple may be explained why it is that the higher the 

 saccharine quality of the root, the greater its annual 

 seeding tendency. Those inferior and hardy beets 

 are never annual in their seed formation. \\'hether the 

 size of the seed has or has not an influence, authorities 

 do not agree; but many experimenters have asserted 

 that the smaller the seed the greater the ten- 

 dency to produce annual beets. In direct contradiction 

 to this are the assertions of an Austrian agronomist, 

 who claims that large seed, maturing very much later 

 than the smaller, tends to give annuals. If this hypoth- 

 esis be true, it may be explained by the fact that small 

 seed produces small and delicate roots, which, as before 

 stated, will go to seed abnormally more readily than 

 the larger and coarser varieties. 



Some growers say that the occasional occurrence 

 of annual beets in their fields is an almost certain indi- 

 cation that the average saccharine percentage of the 

 crop will be satisfactory. Too much reliance should 



