250 SUGAR BEET SEED. 



riority of the sugar-beet seed there cultivated. Through 

 long, careful observations and experiments, those in 

 charge of the agricultural experiments of the locality 

 were able to create a variety of beet that is connected 

 by blood to nearly every type in existence, the char- 

 acteristic advantage being the satisfactory yields 

 obtained on any given area, combining also quality and 

 suited to most soils. The early growers of this beet 

 were Rabbetge and Giesecke, who were also proprie- 

 tors of the Wanzleben sugar factory, which had a cap- 

 ital of nearly $700,000. The factory still remains in 

 the hands of Giesecke and a partner, but the seed or 

 agricultural section is now a complete and separate 

 company. 



A few words respecting the production of Klein- 

 Wanzleben Original are not without interest. It was in 

 reality created in i860, and the type during these 

 thirty-seven years has been strictly adhered to. How- 

 ever, there are constantly new varieties being created 

 from force of circumstances. The physical selection 

 plays a most important role, entirely independent of 

 the chemical cold-water selection in the laboratory. All 

 beets not possessing the typical characteristic must be 

 thrown out. As mentioned a few lines above, there 

 are new types which promise favorably, and these must 

 be followed up with certain combinations of photo- 

 graphs, to determine if some desirable new departure 

 may not be found necessary. As soon as a degenera- 

 tion or atavism manifests itself, the work in that special 

 direction is at once abandoned. 



It is interesting to note that in some special cases 

 a variety is obtained, from generation to generation, 

 the amelioration of which shows a strong characteristic 

 tendency. It is to just such a type that the Klein-Wan- 

 zleben owes its value and existence. To keep up the 

 purity of the blood, so to speak, every few years inter- 

 breeding from the new standard varieties is found 

 necessary. 



