Sugar Beets. 
25 
THE EFFECT OF SIZE OF BEETS ON PERCENTAGE OF SUGAR. 
§ 40. .The impression is that large beets will be low in sugar 
and that small beets will be rich in sugar. I do not recall having 
seen it so stated by any one writing on the subject. It is, however, 
claimed, and that justly, that medium sized beets are apt to be richer 
in sugar than larger ones, and under ordinary conditions they will 
be richer than very small ones. It should be remembered that such 
statements are only true in a general sense and do not exclude ex¬ 
ceptions either way. Having seen so many exceptions to the state¬ 
ment that large beets were apt to be poor in sugar, I endeavored to 
determined the influence of size upon the percentage of sugar. 
We sometimes find large beets in a row where the stand is 
regular, and the large and small beets have, to all appearances, had 
equal chances, with the general conditions favorable to the forma¬ 
tion of beets rich in sugar. Again we find beets grown under 
conditions which we know from observation to be unfavorable to 
the growth of beets rich in sugar, whether they are large or small. 
Again, we know that beets grown from different seed, and on different 
plots of ground, differ in quality. I shall give examples showing 
this to be the case with different parts of rows, one end yielding 
markedly better beets than the other, without regard to size. 
§41. In order, then, to study whether a large size has any 
prejudicial relation to the sugar content, I took beets of different 
sizes grown under the same conditions, i. e., I took all of the beets 
growing in a certain length of row and analyzed each one separately 
where they were large enough to make a sample; if not, two were 
taken together. 
This was done with a number of rows, and the results are given 
in the following table : 
TABLE IV.—RELATION OF SIZE OF BEETS TO SUGAR CONTENT. 
Weight of 
Number. Beet in Pounds. 
1 .4.40 
2 .4.00 
3 .3.25 
4 .2.90 
5 .2.60 
6 .2.40 
7 .1.75 
8 .1.60 
9.1.50 
10 .1.50 
11 .1.45 
12 .1.20 
13 .0.75 
14 .0.62 
15 .0.62 
16 .0.62 
17 .0.50 
18 .0.40 
Percentage of 
Coefficient 
Sugar in Beet. 
of Purity. 
13.35 
79.6 * 
14.16 
73.0 
14.96 
81.9 
16.06 
85.1 
14.77 
80.8 
14.44 
76.8 
16.96 
82.5 
15.39 
79.7 
15.06 
81.0 
15.68 
83.1 
16.44 
79.9 
15.77 
85.8 
14.73 
77.5 
15.44 
81.0 
15.58 
83.4 
12.97 
70.3 
14.30 
74.5 
14.58 
78.0 
