CHAPTER A'l. 

 Soils for Seed Production. 



There are two questions to be considered which 

 are important in beet-seed production: ist, Soil that 

 is to receive the so-called "Elite" seed, and that which 

 is intended for the reception of mothers ; we might add 

 a third variety, that which is intended for close plant- 

 ing, with a view to growing beets which are 

 to have only a physical selection. From these 

 there would follow the production of seed for 

 the trade. There are certain special conditions for 

 each case, but for the present we must consider them 

 only from a general standpoint. It is desirable to have 

 s. rich, deep homogeneous soil; some agronomists go so 

 far as to recommend one that is rich in organic matter, 

 which, from our point of view, is a mistake. When 

 possible, a typical soil should be rather dark in color 

 and of an argillo-sandy texture. The subsoil should 

 as nearly as possible have the same composition as the 

 surface soil, and be possessed of a certain porosity, 

 permitting easy drainage, which allows its working 

 during all kinds of weather. 



If beets be cultivated on soils too highly manured 

 or fertilizeJ, or even of a gravelly texture, without 

 depth, the shape of the resulting root will, necessarily, 

 be irregular, and consequently, worthless for seed pro- 

 duction, and would be thrown out during physical 

 selection. We have heard it freely argued that when 

 the question of soils for mothers is discussed, that the 

 plant foods play only a very secondary role during seed 

 development, that is, during the second year, so that 

 most any soil answers the purpose for mother-planting. 



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