126 SUGAR BEET SEED. 



Fertilizers for Elite Seed and Mothers. 



When considering fertilizers for Elite seed, great 

 care must be taken when using barnyard manure the 

 fall before sowing, in order that there benounfermented 

 particles of straw, for these might be the cause of con- 

 siderable difficulty, resulting in very irregular beets. 

 At certain French farms visited by the writer, oil cakes 

 of various origins appear to be very popular; these are 

 distributed in the spring, just before sowing, in quan- 

 tities of looo pounds to the acre, and should, under all 

 circumstances, be thoroughly pulverized. The use of 

 lime has rendered great service, for it destroys the bad • 

 effects of certain clays, about five tons to the acre being 

 used, on an average. In October there should follow 

 a thorough plowing. 



It is evident that the plant foods needed for beets 

 to develop are not the same, as regards quantity, as 

 required for mothers with the view to seed formation. 

 It is to be regretted that this question has hitherto been 

 neglected by seed growers. From what has been said 

 in previous pages, the main effort always is to obtain 

 a special fertilizer, suited to each section of the farm, 

 so as to bring the whole up to a uniform standard. 

 This can be accomplished only by strict watching of 

 what has been taken away in potassa, phosphoric acid, 

 nitrogen, etc. The question of fertilizers for beets has 

 been discussed by many writers, but few agronomists 

 have touched upon mothers in seed production during 

 their several months in soil after plantins. If the ques- 

 tion of fertilizer has been neglected by seed growers, it 

 it partly because information has been wanting. The 

 decline in the fertility of a soil is always followed by 

 deterioration in the quality of seed obtained; hence, 

 success largely depends upon this plant food issue. The 

 question has been thoroughly examined by M. Legras. 



