HOME-GROWN BEET SEED. 233 



When the factory is to determine what variety of 

 seed is best suited for the environment, the method is 

 a Httle different. Great precautions are necessary, 

 that the experiments be conducted under exactly the 

 same conditions as regards soil, fertilizer, etc. The 

 spacing of roots must be identical in all cases; the soil 

 should have been well plowed the season before; sow- 

 ing of all varieties of seed under observation, and the 

 analyses of the resulting roots must be done on the 

 same day. During the plant development the various 

 patches of beets should be carefully examined, so as to 

 make sure that their appearance above ground is about 

 the same in each case; it is also urgent to keep the soil 

 free from weeds. Each beet must be weighed and 

 analyzed separately, and it is important not to have one 

 sample of each, but an entire row taken from the same 

 exposure from each patch. 



When undertaking the production of seed, it is not 

 generally realized what a long, tedious affair the 

 method is, and if not conducted on a scientific basis, it 

 will be a money loss to all concerned. After the selec- 

 tions are made there are three principal classifications. 

 The first on the list should be planted to produce seed 

 which would yield beets for selection the following 

 year; the second classification could also be used for 

 the same purpose in an emergency; those remaining 

 could furnish at once a limited amount of seed for gen- 

 eral farmers' usage, while the mainx supply would be 

 obtained a year later from beets which had undergone 

 only an ultimate physical classification. For example, 

 the mothers selected in 1894 would be from seed which 

 had been produced in 1893. The planting of mothers, 

 in Europe, is done the following March, 1895; in Octo- 

 ber of 1895 the seeds from the planted mothers would 

 be harvested; in April, 1896, the seeds are sown, and 

 in October of the same year the resulting roots are har- 

 vested and siloed. In February, 1897, a second selec- 



