Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 215 
single seed. More than a hundred heads of wheat have 
been reported to come from a single seed. In this way 
the plant tends to use all the food and moisture that is 
available in the soil even with a comparatively thin stand. 
Beets have no such power to make up for a thin stand. 
The roots may be somewhat larger where they are not 
crowded ; but if many of the seeds fail to germinate, it 
is impossible to secure a satisfactory yield. If there are 
blank spaces in the beet rows, the yield will be reduced 
by just that much. For this reason it is important to 
make careful germination tests of every lot of seed that 
is offered for sale. Particularly is this true of seed that 
is stained and dark in color, indicating that it has been wet. 
SOURCES OF SEED 
Until the last few years, practically all of the sugar- 
beet seed used in America was imported from Europe. 
This was not because it could not be raised in America, 
but because foreign seed could be obtained, at a low price 
and it was much less trouble to secure it in this way than 
to produce it at home. The sugar companies arranged 
for the seed; they were in the business of making sugar 
and not of producing seed; hence they took the line of 
least resistance and purchased the seed where it could be 
obtained easiest. For this reason, a home seed industry 
was never developed. This method of procuring seed 
was satisfactory as long as everything went well, but it 
had its decided disadvantage. 
The seed requirements of the United States for the 
next few years probably will reach nearly 15,000,000 
