544 



ROOT CROPS 



ROOT CROPS 



ter. In the case of sugar-beets, in 1904 the aver- 

 age amount of sugar obtained from one ton of 

 beets by the factories and rasping stations in the 

 United States was 230 pounds. From these data it 



Fig. 777. Tellow-fleshed Globe mangel. In each "'compart- 

 ment" the upper figure gives the percentage of dry matter, 

 the middle figure the percentage of sugar, and the lower 

 figure the percentage of nitrogen. (Wood & Berry.) 



is evident that the average percentage of dry mat- 

 ter contained must have been over 2 per cent 

 greater than that given in the above table, and in 

 many states the beets average 18 to 20 per cent 

 dry matter, while 30 per cent with 24 per cent of 

 sugar has been attained with individual roots. 



Improvement. 



During the past fifty years the amount of sugar 

 which can be obtained from a ton of sugar-beets 

 has been increased from about 100 or 150 pounds 

 to 250 pounds or more, a gain of over 100 per cent. 

 Part of this gain is due to better methods of man- 

 ufacture and part to better beets. The percentage 

 of sugar in the beets has been increased from an 

 average of be- 

 tween 5 and 10 per 

 cent in 1805, to an 

 average of 14 to 

 18 per cent, and 

 24 per cent has 

 now been attained 

 in individual 

 roots, a gain due 

 largely to a right 

 method of selec- 

 tion. In selecting 

 sugar-beets,a high 

 sugar content has 

 been insisted on 

 and the sugar con- 

 tent of "mother 

 beets" has been 

 determined before 

 they were saved 

 for seed produc- 



tion. The use of the saccharimeter and a reliable 

 method of coring have given valuable results. 



With mangels there has been no method of im- 

 provement, and roots were selected because of 

 their shape or the color of their skin, no attention 

 being paid to their dry-matter content, although 

 it is for the dry matter that they are grown. To- 

 day, it is urged that all roots that are to be used 

 for seed production should be sampled and the per- 

 centage of dry matter determined, and that all 

 roots that fall below a certain standard should be 

 discarded. The determination of the dry-matter 

 content requires the use of a cheese tryer, with 

 which a plug is removed from near the center of 

 the root. (Fig. 779.) This sample is then numbered 

 to correspond with a tag on the root, carefully 

 weighed and dried in a water-jacketed oven or 

 some place where it will not be charred. The loss 

 in weight is water, and the percentage of dry mat- 

 ter may be estimated.- The hole in the root may be 

 "filled with cotton batting which has been immersed 

 in a solution of formalin. The roots which pass 

 the test should be stored in sand or soil over win- 

 ter and planted early the following spring three 

 and one-half feet apart each way. It is important 

 that roots saved for seed production should not 

 have their crowns injured. 



Varieties of mangels. 



Varieties are frequently classified according to 

 shape and color of skin ; they may be long, ovoid, 

 tankard, globe or cowhorn (Fig. 780), and have 

 black, purple, red, orange, golden, yellow, pink or 

 white skin. The varieties grown in the United 

 States are nearly all of European origin, and Euro- 

 pean-grown seed is ' generally sown. Some well- 

 known varieties of mangels are : Norbiton Giant 

 Long Red, Sutton Long Red, Gatepost, Yellow Levi- 

 athan, Yellow Intermediate, Chirk Castle, Golden 

 Tankard, Yellow Globe. 



Among half-sugar mangels, i. e., the mangels 

 that apparently result from a cross between man- 

 gels and sugar-beets, may be mentioned Vilmorin 

 Half-sugar White and Half-sugar Rosy, and the 



Fiff. 778. Green-top Yellow tumlp. The figures show the percentage of dry matter. (Wood & Berry. ■ 



