230 SUGAR BEET SEED. 



some of these are fully explained in previous pages of 

 this writing. 



We were recommended to write to Mr. Deering- 

 hofif regarding his experience in sugar-beet-seed pro- 

 duction. In reply, we learn that in his district, Union- 

 town, Washington, the soil is too dry, at certain sea- 

 sons, for the satisfactory development of beet seed. 

 The quality of seed obtained was, in a measure, satis- 

 factory, but the yields were far below what they should 

 have been. It is claimed, furthermore, that it is far 

 more difficult to keep the beets over winter than it is 

 in Continental Europe. He has no faith in California 

 as a state that has a great future for superior seed cul- 

 tivation. He declares that in a few years, they would 

 possibly produce annuals; this, from our standpoint, is 

 good reasoning. The intention, however, of C. C. 

 Morse & Co., in California, is to give the subject of 

 special seed production their careful attention. They 

 have been urged to take up the question by several of 

 the leading agronomists of the state. 



The very low price at which foreign seeds may be 

 brought to America is an issue difficult to overcome. 

 The success of Russian seeds in France and Germany, 

 the importance of producing seed in a colder climate, 

 and bringing it finally to a milder one, have been for 

 years most successful. It remains to be proven what the 

 future will be in creating a type of beet in an environ- 

 ment such as California. The experiments of the past, 

 either at Alvarado, or in other centres of the state, are 

 not sufficiently conclusive, owing to their limited dura- 

 tion, to predict as a certainty what the outcome will be. 

 However, we do not hesitate to make the assertion 

 that there will be an enormous tendency to create an- 

 nuals. No district of Europe has given more atten- 

 tion to beet-seed production than Saxony, so we 

 conclude that a general outline of what is done there, 

 as a starting point, is most important as a guide for 



