The record-union., 1897-10-19


leisurely harvest. In fact, there is no
staple crop which can compete with
the sugar beet in demanding the favor
able attention of those interested in
irrigation If net profit of from SO
to 70 per acre can be secured, from
500 TO $500 per acre can be paid for
the land. 1t is estimated that nearly
10u,0OU,oO0 acres of land in the arid
regions of the United States may event
ually be irrigated being nearly one
fifth the total area OF this area per-
haps 10 per cent. are capable Of easy
and speedy irrigation One million
acres planted to Beets would yield, un-
der intensive culture, a quantity of
sugar sufficient, with the Louisiana
product, for domestic consumption.
There is nowhere In sight a more prom
fsing prospect for agricultural develops
ment than in the production of sugar
beets on irrigated lands.
VARIETIES OF BEETS.
All kinds of sugar heets are botanic
ally Identical with the common garden
beet, Beta vulgaris The differences
in varieties have arisen by reason of
special selection and culture, produc-
ing a pure strain of some valuable pc
culiarity in the beet These accidental
valuable qualities. by careful selection,
have become fixed and are associated
with certain external properties which
have thus come to be regarded as dis
tlnguishing characteristics
The shape and size of the beet. its
color, the character Of the foliage,
whether erect or spreading, etc, are
the most frequent marks of distinction.
Fne oeets are also frequently designat-
ed oy the names of those who have de-
veloped them, by the name of the town
or locality in which they have been
grown, or by their color.
Among the more frequently occurring
varieties grown in Europe. may be
mentioned the vnmorin Improved.
kleinwanzlebener, Improved Kleinwan-
zlebener, White Excelsior. White Impe-
rial, Simon lie Grande, Florimond and
Bulteau Desprez Richest, Barbant Su-
gar Beet, Rose Imperial, Demesmay.
etc.
The two varieties which have been
most widely grown in this country are
the Vilmorin Improved and the Klein
wanzlebener. The certainty that the
most scientific methods is of greater
Importance to the beet grower than the
variety. The beet has reached such a
high state of perfection as to make the
least degree of laxity in its treatment
exceedingly dangerous to its qualities
The Vilmorin Improved is the result
Of thirty-ffve years of methodic and
persevering selection based upon the
lines to be indicated hereafter. In re-
gard to its preservation, it is recog-
nized that it holds it's sugar content
better than any other variety. In those
factories in which the Improved Vii
with other varieties, it is the custom
to reserve this variety for the end of
the season and to work up the less re-
liable beets at an earlier date. It is
also said to resist better than any 9TH
er variety the unfavorable influence OF
certain characters of soil and of GER
tain manures
In black soils, rich in organic mat
ter, it gives great Industrial results,
while most other varieties of beets be-
come watery or saline in excess.
fertilizers, which are carefully excluded
from ordinary varieties, can be applied
with safety to the Improved Vilmorin,
as a great number of experiments has
shown that this can be done without
serious deterioration in the quality of
the sugar and with a considerable in
crease in weight. From thousands of
analyses it has been established that the
percentage of sugar which can be OBJ
tanned with this variety is about 16.
It's average yield under favorable condi-
tions can be stated to be from twelve
to sixteen tons per acre.
Perhaps more important for general
cultivation than the Vilmorin variety
is the beet known as the Kleinwanzle-
hener, which at the present time has
probably wider cultivation than any
other sugar beet.
This beet has conical root straight
and even, quite large at the head and
rapidly tapering. 1t is distinguished
from the Improved Vilmorin by its
brighter color and it's lighter colored
leaves, which are beautifully undulating
or scalloped about the edges. Coming
from a cross in which the Improved
Vilmorin entered largely, the Kleinwan-
zlebener is to-day a fixed variety and
is equally we'll produced in France and
Germany. 1t succeeds in soil of an al
luvial nature and average richness and
on level plateaus. In soils very rich in
humus it ripens poorly and loses much
of its richness. Like the Vimorin I'M
proved, toward the end of vegetation
it's leaves are completely spread
In those conditions Of culture where
the improved Vilmorin gives from
twelve to sixteen tons per acre, the
Kleinwanzlebener gives from fourteen
to eighteen tons. 1t is. however, gener-
ally inferior to the vilmorin Improved
in saccharine richness, which the whittier
and more water appearance Of it's flesh
would make known at first view. New
ertheless, from 13 to 15 per cent. OF
sugar can be obtained in the beet in
field culture.
| The Brabant sugar beet is altogether
different in aspect from the preceding
varieties. Tt is long, rising well above
| the level of the soil, and carries a fol-
| iage vigorous in growth and upright irl
| position. This variety would seem al
first view to come from the white va.
rieties used for forage; nevertheless. its
| great vigcr. its abundant production
and its sufficiently high content Of sugar
make it a beet quite valuable in those
countries where the tax Is placed upon
| the amount Of sugar made rather than
upon the beet. The Brabsnt sugar beet
/ will give easily twenty tons per acre
and may be made to contain y pei
cent. of sugar.
| In France the adoption of legislation