Composition of ash of beets grown at Medicine Lodge, Kansas. CO2 A. W. Smith Bottom land; not alkaline. Table of analyses of ash of beets and beet leaves, grown at Medicine Lodge, Kansas. ASH, SOLUBLE IN BOILING WATER. TOTAL, SOLUBLE AND INSOLUBLE ASH COMBINED, MgO Fe2O3.. Total.. Corrected for Cl EFFECT OF SOIL ON BEET PRODUCTION. Not only the climate but also the soil affects profoundly the quality of the beets grown. This is well illustrated by the experiment of Briem, published in Austro-Hungarian Journal of the Sugar-Beet Industry and of Agriculture, vol. 17, p. 571. Briem chose two typical soils for a comparative trial, near each other, in order to secure identical climatic conditions. The mother beet from which the seeds were obtained was a Vilmorin improved, which contained 19.86 per cent eugar. The seeds were planted in the two soils under precisely similar conditions and received the same culture. The one soil was very poor, with a gravelly subsoil. The other was a rich garden soil, on which a pond had once stood. The beets which were produced were so different that even an expert would not have admitted that they came from the same seed. The poor soil gave a small beet, which soon reached the term of its vegetation, while the rich soil furnished a beet resembling those raised for forage and which at the time of harvest was still in full vegetation. A tabular view of the results is instructive: That a race of beets introduced into a new country develops new characteristics has long been known, but the above shows in a striking manner the part that the soil itself may take in these transformations. CULTURE OF THE KLEIN WANZLEBENER ORIGINAL. In a letter from the proprietors of the sugar factory at Klein Wanzleben, some interesting data have been communicated concerning the original Klein Wanzlebener beet, from which all the different varieties of this family have been derived. The methods of selection of beets for seed production are described as follows: For the production of our beet seed, which is carried on by us exclusively, we use none but the full-grown beets, having never been able to satisfy ourselves with regard to the use of small beets. Although this method of cultivation would be much more profitable it has always appeared to us to be contrary to all laws of nature, and the seed from such imperfect beets is certainly more subject to degeneration than that from full-grown, mature beets. Variations of form can never be safely detected in these dwarf beets, while the mature beets are chosen with the greatest certainty by their external appearance. The selection of the mother beets on the field and before siloing is made with the greatest care. Only those fields are used for this purpose which have been planted with seed from beets which were polarized and whose actual sugar content has been determined by the alcohol-extraction method. All beets which are defective in growth are rejected. The process of selection commences in November, after all the beets have been harvested, and continues until the middle of April. The work is carried on in three laboratories. In Laboratory I the beets are assorted by means of a solution of salt. About nine-tenths of all the beets reserved for seed selection are rejected in this laboratory, and only about 100,000 beets are transferred to Laboratory II. The per cent of sucrose in the juice of these beets is now determined in Laboratory II by the polariscope, the figure thus obtained being always considerably reduced so as to allow for variations. The actual sucrose content of these polarized beets-daily about 150-200-is determined in Laboratory III by the alcohol method, so as to have a check on the polarization, and to avoid errors which might be caused by the presence of optically active bodies. Only those beets whose high sugar content is definitely proved by the last method are chosen for cultivation. These are again assorted, the finest specimens being planted in the spring for the production of extra fine seed. This seed, of which we can only furnish limited quantities, is therefore obtained from high polarizing beets without an intervening generation. We do not, however, consider that the careful selection of mother beets by their sugar content insures satisfactory results. If the choice of mother beets by polarization were the only condition necessary to obtain good results, every large estate would be able within a few years to raise a beet satisfactory in all respects. This is, however, impossible, as the beet is, more than any other plant, subject to sudden degeneration, which is explained partly by the history of its development and partly by insufficient transmitting of those qualities which distinguished the mother beet. Very often external conditions, such as location and fertilization, exercise at times a deteriorating influence and cause a poor quality of beet, such as is not a natural variation of the family and is not hereditary. For these reasons it is absolutely necessary, if we wish to raise a beet of constant high quality, to observe the experimental crops for a number of years, both as to their external appearance and chemical properties. The fact that the beet is a biennial plant renders this method of selection proportionally more difficult. The cultivation by families, together with the most conscientious individual cultivation, has been the foundation of our work for more than 30 years. It insures certain success to the growers of our original beet, an individual superior both in quality and quantity; in short, results such as the varieties introduced in Germany during the last ten years are unable to guaranty as the proof of their constant high quality, which can only be determined by careful observations extended over many years, is wanting. As a transfer of the beet into other conditions of climate and soil may cause a deterioration in the second generation, the statement that the seed was obtained from our finest quality of beet is not a certain guaranty of success. Some interesting data in regard to the operation of the sugar factory are also communicated, this being one of the companies which carries on both the manufacture of sugar and the production of sugar beet seed. As will be seen from the data communicated the object is to produce not only a rich beet but one of large size, so as to secure as large a yield as possible of sugar per acre. The data in regard to the operations of this factory follow: [Sugar Factory Klein Wanzleben, successors to Rabbethge & Giesecke Stock Company at Klein Wanzleben.] We beg permission to send the following data for general information concerning our house: Our capital is 2,700,000 marks. Our stockholders are under no obligations to raise or furnish beets. Our plant consists of a raw-sugar factory, which diffuses about 7,000 hundredweight beets per day, and a molasses desucration factory, which is capable of working up about 1,000 hundred-weight of molasses. A large farming estate is connected |