206 The Sugar-Beet in America 
the sugar efficiently. This calls for beets of a high- 
yielding strain, high in sugar and purity, and having a 
desirable size and shape. 
The qualities of good beets are summarized by New- 
lands! as follows (cf. Plate XXIV) : 
“1. They have a regular pear-shaped form and smooth 
skin. Long, tapering carrot-like roots are considered 
inferior to pear-shaped, Silesian, beets. 
“2. They do not throw out forks, or fingers or toes. 
“3. They have white and firm flesh, delicate and uni- 
form structure, and clean sugary flavor. Thick-skinned 
roots are frequently spongy, and always more watery 
than beets distinguished by a uniform firm and close 
texture. , 
“4, They weigh, on an average, one and one-half to 
two and one-half pounds apiece. Neither very large nor 
very small roots are profitable to the sugar manufacturer. 
As a rule, beets weighing more than three and one-half 
pounds are watery and poor in sugar; and very small 
roots, weighing less than three-fourths of a pound, are 
either unripe or too woody, and in either case yield com- 
paratively little sugar. As the soil and season have a 
great influence on the composition of the crop, it is quite 
possible, in a favorable season, and with proper culti- 
vation, to produce beets weighing over four pounds, which, 
nevertheless, yield a good percentage of sugar. Speaking 
generally, good beet roots in average seasons seldom ex- 
ceed two and one-half pounds in weight. 
“5. Good beets show no tendency to become necky, 
1 Newlands, J. A. R. and B. E. R., “Sugar, a Handbook for 
Planters and Refiners,” p. 395. 
