SOILS FOR SEED PRODUCTION. 151 



the root proper. (Even during the early history of 

 the beet-sugar industry PeHgot insisted that sugar dis- 

 appears as soon as seeds are matured.) Respecting 

 seed formation through the intervention of the stems, 

 very Httle is known. One might conclude from the 

 fact just mentioned that the seed had absorbed the 

 sugar, but such is not the case, it having been proven 

 that most of the sugar passes into small side roots, 

 which always show themselves. 



Salts and vegetable acids, with a basis of potassa, 

 exist in the juice of different portions of the plant. 

 The quantity contained in the beet, after completing 

 its second year's growth, is about double what it was 

 after the first year. Lime, salts and soluble vegetable 

 acids, and lime of an insoluble organic combination, are 

 to be found in all portions of the plant. The tissues 

 of the leaves and their stems appear to contain more 

 of the lime combinations the second than during the 

 first year's vegetation. Green seeds also contain a 

 large amount of lime in an insoluble combination. 

 During this second year, there is, without doubt, an 

 upward movement of potassic and lime salts contained 

 in the soil, and this in passing through the leaves and 

 stems has the seed ultimately in view. During this 

 period, carbonic acid and bicarbonates contained in 

 the soil enter the root by the adhering radicles; the 

 transformations which occur appear to be very like 

 those of the first year. 



As the mothers can supply only one-tenth of 

 the potassic and lime salts needed for seed formation, 

 the remaining nine-tenths must be drawn from the 

 soil. The potassa has for its principal function the 

 formation of the seed, while lime helps in the forma- 

 tion of tissue. A question we hear constantly asked 

 is, Have not these salts some direct and constant rela- 

 tion or important influence upon the quality of seed 

 obtained, considered from a basis of sugar percentage 



