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Show I SUOfR BEETS H AMERICAN- GROWN SUGAR I BEET SEED. H Chemical Problems Prof. Robert H Stewart, A. C. U. I " ' H -"It Is absolutely essential to sue-' as F H cess tliat we secure the best quality B . & m of secdj and past experience has con- m clusivcly shown that we cannot -de- fl pend, upon doing so from abroad. aVj ft ' fl We, must raise it ourselves, and in fl such a careful, scientific manner that fl it will not only fcc of the best quality, fl but will have such characteristics as H will make it adapted to the particu- 1 larnccds land requirements of the lo- cality where it is to be sown. Seed fl rinsed on a particular soil andf under M certain climatic conditions may not aV H be best suited for planting in like fl soils nd under similar climatic con- M ditipn; in fact, very often it is not. M Seed for comparatively poor soil may m dobest ore rich soil, or that raised H in the East may do best when sown H 'in the West. Only study and personal fl experience on the part of each factory mainagcr can determine what seed i best suited for the conditions in I113 region. "The work was begun by securing the best varieties of European seed and also all known kinds of American-grown seed land! growing them for comparison. Of these the best four strains was distributed in Montana. Mon-tana. Tests of the beets raised showed show-ed that the richest lot contained 22.8 per cent sugar. The largest estimated yield of sugar per aero 5825 pounds was obtained on the Station farm. Vilmorin Imperial, French Red Top, and Utah sugar beets, grown in comparison com-parison with the Washington-grown Klcinwanzlcbencr seed, were inferior in every particular, with the exception excep-tion that the Utah-grown seed showed show-ed a purity of 1.08 per cent greater than the Klcinwanzlcbencr. The average of 22 (beets grown in various parts of the Static from this sced.con-taincd sced.con-taincd 16.9 per -cent of sugar with 82.73 per cent purity. "While the experiments have not been continued long enough to war- rant positive conclusions, the results obtained clearly indicate that the home production of pedigreed sugar beet seeds may be profitably undertaken under-taken in the United States." It is only a question of time when the importation of beet seed into this country will cease. In a recent Government Gov-ernment report we note that during 1906 thdtc were forty-nine experimenters experi-menters under the direction of the United States Department of Agriculture. Agri-culture. The tests were madle in various vari-ous States with the co-operation of the State Experiment Stations with a view of determining the comparative compara-tive value of American and foreign beet seed. On 278 acres the home seed yielded an average of 14 tons of beets per acre. These roots had .an average polarization of 14.9, meaning mean-ing over 4000 pounds of sugar to the acre. The imported seed showed an average yield per acre of only 12 tons, with 50 per cent sugar, meaning mean-ing 36000 pounds of sugar to the acre. A writer on this subject shows that as 376,000 acres of land were devoted to beets last year, the home seed would have placed an additional 226,000,000 ipounds of suga on tnc market. The argument looks well on paper, but is somewhat misleading and in the long run would certainly jfl lead to surprises. jfl Excellent beet seed may be ob- jfl taincd without any special effort, but unless the selection is kept up the quality will fall off. If we Americans Ameri-cans undertake to grow beet sood it should be continued frorm year to year and not confined to experiments, which mean little or nothing. We arc informed that at Fairfield, Washington, Washing-ton, this is being done and 15,000 pounds of seed were selected as foundation stocks, and all beets of exceptional quality were saved and planted the next sprung as mother beets for seed production. In 1904 one-half of the seed secured from these individual plants was planted and the best specimens of beets preserved pre-served for the production for the first crop of elite seed. The other half cf the seed was saved for planting in 1905, and from the beets- produced the next yesar's supply of elite seed will be grown. "It is reported that during 1904 a Washington state sugar bcct grower produced a lot of some 300 roots testing test-ing 21 per cent or more of sugar in the beet, with composite tests showing show-ing coefficients of purity ranging from 86 to 91.9. In this lot were included 15 roots containing 24 per cent, 50 with 23 per cent, and 100 with 22 per cent of sugar in the beet. Results of variety tests of sugar beet seed! from American and European growers in 1904 show a range of from 15 to 17.7 per cent of sugar in the beet, and a range in coefficient of purity from 83.7 to 87.9. The low as well as the high figures were secured in Klcin-wianzlebcncr Klcin-wianzlebcncr sugar beet from American Ameri-can grown seed. The highest yield per mere, 13.17 tons, was obtained from Klcinwanzlcbencr seed grown at Fairfield, Wash. "In 1904 this Department distributed distribut-ed some 4000 pounds of California grown and 1 1,000 pounds of Washington Washing-ton grown Kleinwanzlcfoener sugar beet seed, in order to compare it with the seed furnished! to farmers by the factories. Of. the reports received, 73 per cent of those planting Washington Wash-ington grown seed and 63 per cent of those planting the California grown seed found it to be of quicker, stronger and healthier germination, and none found it inferior to the other oth-er seed. The returns from 561 acres showed that the sugar content of the beets from the Washington grown B seed was 15,4 per cent and.ftxmi the B California gtown seed 14.4 per cent, B as against 14.9 per cent for beets from B the factory seed. The Washington B seed yielded M6.7 Jlpns, the California B seed 9 tons, and thcfajctprysccd 9.1 tons per acre. B "Cooperative tests were made by B several beet growers in which Klcin- B wanzlcbcncr beet seed produced in B the State of Washington, and secured B by the Department of Agriculture, B were obtained last season. We B have very little faith, as cx- B plained in a previous writing, in B the future 'possibilities o'f singlc- B germ seed. While at first the num- B her of single-germ seed obtained was B only 2 per cent and is now 50 per B cent, the selection m,ust be kept up B and would mean a "greater money, outlay than the money saved, the H object being to economize time for B thinning. It is well not to forget B that when clusters of plants are to B be thinned, only the strongest remain B In the single-germ there would be B only one plant and there would he B no selection; there would be more B open spaces intlic rows and a 'lowr B yield pccacrcEhcSugar Beet. |