68 SUGAIt BEET SEED. 



If the distance between *beets is very much the same as 

 between rows, the tendency then is for the hairy 

 growth to form on all sides. Dubrunfaut declared that 

 there is torsional action of the beet during its devel- 

 opment, and the movement follows the sun. Mehay 

 says that the hairy beets contain 3.5 per cent, dry sub- 

 stance; for lateral root tissues this is 4.5 per cent. 



The shapes of most of the existing varieties come 

 under the heads given by JCnauer in the classifica- 

 tion on the preceding page. 



Many of these shapes have now become obsolete. 

 The Silesian, or pear type, for a long period of years 

 held its own, but is now no longer in vogue. The 

 olive, also, had its day. The very long, pivoting types 

 have generally a high polarization; however, the juice 

 percentage is not what it should be, and, furthermore, 

 their harvesting is most difficult. 



Desprez contends that there is a positive relation 

 between the quality of roots and the hardness of their 

 skin. We are inclined_to believe the assertion, as it 

 has been practically demonstrated. Many of our read- 

 ers, who have seen Desprez's skin classification, may 

 possibly be astonished at this curious theory; but we 

 know that the larger the root, the lower its saccharine 

 quality; hence, large beets are more watery, with tis- 

 sues more open than are those of small roots, with a 

 corresponding hardness of skin. Leplay has fre- 

 quently argued that the quality of a beet depends 

 largely upon the amount of calcareous substance com- 

 bined in its tissues, tending also to lessen the propor- 

 tional decrease in sugar as the root increases in size. 

 Here we have a kind of explanation of the hardness of 

 skin previously mentioned ; and the reason shown why 

 it throws a certain amount of calcareous prqduct on 

 the surface of the clay loam. 



