214 SUGAR BEET SEED. 



The scar made on the mother by the bud removal 

 should be cauterized with charcoal. It is also urged 

 that when buds have attained sufficient size, which 

 means two months' growth under glass, the air ven- 

 tilation should be gradual. Transplanting is the next 

 operation, pinching off the larger leaves, also part of 

 their hairy growth. The hole made to receive these 

 bud plants should be sufficiently watered; better select 

 a cloudy day for the transplanting. Recent exper- 

 iments appear to demonstrate beyond cavil that it is 

 possible to plant a series of buds side by side, under 

 exactly the same conditions, and obtain roots very 

 irregular in shape, but yet having a greater resem- 

 blance to each other than is now obtained by most 

 improved methods of physical and chemical selection 

 in ordinary beet-seed production. 



This production of beets from buds and without 

 seed was patented in Germany and introduced on a 

 very extended scale by Knauer at Grobers. It was 

 claimed that the force of the beet was strengthened, 

 and there was less danger of atavism, and little or no 

 danger of the creation of bastards or hybrids. Justwhere 

 the bud was to be taken was, for a certain time, a ques- 

 tion of experimentation ; the bud from the neck is found 

 to be the best. Doerstling, a chemist in charge of the 

 Knauer farms, says that at Grobers there is, first, a 

 physical selection, according to the shape, size, etc., of 

 the beet. These are numbered and put aside in silos 

 imtil the following spring, when a slight topping is 

 necessary. The temperature of the mothers in silos 

 should not be higher than 15 degrees C. At the end 

 of February and in March, the planting is continued; 

 after four or five days .the buds appear. At intervals 

 of ten days the buds are detached; however, the first 

 taken should be two weeks after their appearance. The 

 skin taken off with the bud should be just sufficient to 

 hold the leaves together. Experience shows that it is 



