194 



SUGAR BEET SEED. 



the surrounding soil of the plantlet that remains. Far 

 better sow in lines and space mechanically; great 

 care must be taken to keep the roots in very straight 

 lines; a .practice difficult to convince our American 

 farmer. 



We shall later discuss the seed-drill question. 

 Seed may be planted in three positions: Squares, 

 lozenges, and rectangles The engravings (Figs. 56-59) 

 give the reader an idea of the amount of space lost by 

 each method; the space lost is less in Fig. 56 than in 

 the other cases, the circle representing the limit that 



Fir. 56. 



. ^1 ^1 1 ■ 



_, . !■ 



.' . I — r— " — ' — ' ■ 



*...,, ;» 



I 1 .— » — I ^ 



.„.f. .. 



Fig. 58. FIG. 59. 



each beet may draw its plant food from the soil. The 

 square method may be used in certain cases, as for seed 

 production on the Legras farm, but for American 

 growers it would be too expensive; the rectangle 

 method is preferable. Upon general principles, it is 

 better to have not less than sixteen inches. 



It has long ago been demonstrated that both the 

 farmer and manufacturer have advantages in planting 

 the beets as near together as the nature of the soil will 

 allow. Great distance tends to increase the size of the 



