The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-12-12


to grow until fall, just as they were
SoWn. Before tai sets In the small |
beets thus grown from the mother seed
are dug out, together with their tops,
and those which have some defect
about the roots or otherwise are picked
out and thrown aside The smooth and
perfect ones are then put into pits,
together with their tops, not more
than three beets deep. The layers are
put together, with their tops outward
and the roots almost touching each
other, thus; and the entire row is grad
ually covered with earth, beginning
with a little at the start, and adding
thereto with increasing cold weather.
until the covering becomes about a
! yard thick lin RUSSIA, so that they
may not suffer from rain, frost, or in
sects. The soil in which the mother
seed is sown should not be previously
, fortified with fresh stable manure ,r
with any commercial fertilizer of
strong heterogeneous character, but only
with nitrate of potash or phosphoric
acid.
In the following spring the small
seed beets are taken out of the pits,
again assorted, and planted two feet
apart in soil which has been thorough
ly fertilized with stable manure or
nitrate of potash or phosphoric acid,
and is in high state of cultivation
When the seed beets are well started,
they must be continually kept free
from weeds. They are allowed to grow
until the seed turns brown in color,
when the stalks are cut and put into
bundles. These remain out in the field
until the stalks become dry, when they
are brought to the barn and thrashed.
AS already stated about 20 to 80
pounds of moIner seed are sufficient
for one acre. From this can be grown
all the material needed to plant 10
acres of seed beets in the following
spring.
Gas to results: In Germany on an
average, 100 to 1900 pounds of beet
seed are harvested from one acre;
therefore, 10 acres will average 1900
to $4,000 pounds. In other words, the
20 to 80 pounds of mother seed sown
the first year will produce at the end
of the second 1900 to $4,000, equal to
$50 sacks of beet seed, with which to
raise crop beets for the sugar factory
LAS much depends on the proper
condition of the soil, it is we'll to re-
II
should be in good condition, i. e., thor
oughly plowed and cultivated and kept
free from weeds; but it must not be
at all heterogeneous for the cultivation
of the mother seed during the first
year. On the other hand, the soil in
which the seed beets are planted in the
second year should be in the very best
state of fertility, from the application
r,r cfo 10 nd aial
tilizers. by reducing as much as pos
sible the heterogeneous matter in the first
year, the growth of the small seed
beets will be retarded, but they will
attain very high percentage of sugar;
and by pushing them the second year
with strenuous fertilizers. they will
yield heavy crop of fully developed
seed The best climate is that in
which dry weather predominates in
the fall After the stalks have been
cut, they should be protected as much
as possible from the wet, otherwise
the seed lose their virtue of germinat
ing. All seed that is well matured and
is thoroughly dry and been brought to
shelter without being again exposed to
damp weather will terminate quickly.
OF course, there will be details in this,
as in every other business, which will
have to be found out by experience,
but the general principles of this
method of producing home grown beet
seed will be readily adapted to the vari-
atoms of our climate and soil.
"The contracts for German mother
seed sold to Russia are made on the
following basis: The seed is furnished
on condition that the seller will ulti
mately get $40 for every 100 pounds
of beet seed harvested. To protect
himself, he at the same time demands
that if the crop should be a failure,
he gets $3.50 for each sack Of 10
pounds of mother seed, Of which S119
per sack must be paid in advance, upon
delivery of the seed. At first, this
seems to be an eXtravagantly high
price, but when it is borne in mind
that one sack of mother seed will yield
ordinarily, at the end of two years,
1900 sacks of beet seed (worth at the
present market price of So per sack,
about s1,100) it will be admitted that
the cost is none too high, and that the
experiment is worth trying"
ERNEST G. WALKER.
q e-