64 SUGAR BEET SEED. 



The central pivot should be hard and very pronounced, 

 the fibro-vasculary tissue very well developed and the 

 concentric rings not more than 12 m. m. in width. The 

 beets not forked and with small necks. The juice 

 should taste either salty or sweet. 



On many previous occasions attention has been 

 directed to the influence of soil, fertilizer, seed, etc., 

 upon the final shape of the beet. We know, for 

 example, that if the soil has been thoroughly plowed, 

 roots have greater facility of growth, attain greater 

 length and grow less above ground than when the 



Fig. 26. 

 tipper surface only is at their disposal. If the sub-soil 

 offers too great a resistance, the portion above ground 

 is as great as that beneath the surface, and from a man- 

 ufacturer's point of view, very inferior roots are the 

 result. A beet in growing, if of superior quality, in 

 its desire to obtain the requisite plant food, will sur- 

 round, as it were, a small stone, which may have 

 been an obstruction to its descending development. 



The farmer, in delivering his crop at the factory, 

 cannot be expected to select only those advantageous 

 to the manufacturer, regardless of his own interests. 



