PKODUCTION OF SUPEEIOE SEED. 213 



buds, introduced in 1890 by Professor Novoczek, 

 which had been appHed to many other plants, but not 

 to beets. While several years have now elapsed since 

 then, and numerous experiments have been made, the 

 question still remains to be satisfactorily understood. 

 We called attention to the fact that the saccharine 

 quality of beets increases with the number of its con- 

 centric rings; to each of these correspond leaves which 

 are subsequently followed by buds. "It consequently 

 follows that the richer the beet, the more numerous are 

 the buds and the better suited are such roots for the 

 multiplication of their species." Later, we said, " It is 

 shown that after the buds have been planted in a suit- 

 able soil, after about two weeks leaves develop; and a 

 hairy growth corresponding to lateral roots soon 

 appears." To which we may add, that while these roots, 

 as planted by some investigators, have a very different 

 shape from the original mother, they are said to be 

 possessed of exactly the same characteristics. How- 

 ever, it is claimed that there may be obtained seed, 

 which, in time, will yield roots which tend more and 

 more to be the shape of the original parent. 



On some farms visited by us, the mother, after 

 being selected and found to contain about 16 per cent, 

 sugar, is planted, with its upward leaf development 

 kept under control by suitable horizontal frames; this 

 has a tendency to increase the bud formation, under 

 which circumstances it is possible to obtain 280 buds 

 from a single root. It is not desirable, however, in 

 most cases, to use more than forty of these, which some 

 agrarians recommend should be planted as soon as 

 they appear, while others declare that they should be 

 taken off at night and planted the next day. The pre- 

 caution of not watering the soil for two days must not 

 be overlooked, and great care is necessary to remove 

 aH particles of skin adhering to the parent beet, as from 

 these other roots would soon grow. 



