Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-11-20

almost touching each other, and the
entire row is gradually covered with
earth, beginning with little at the
start, and adding thereto with increas-
ing cold weather, until the covering be-
comes about yard thick Gin Russla),
so that they may not suffer from rain,
frost or insects. The soil in which the
mother seed is sown should not be pre-
viously fortified with fresh stable ma
nure or with any commercial fertilizer
of strong heterogeneous character, but
only with nitrate of potash or phos-
phoric 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 fortified with stable manure or nj
trate of potash or pnospnoric 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 till
the seed turns brown in color when
the stalks are cut and put into bum
dies. These remain out in the field UNI
til the stalks become dry, when they
are brought to the barn and threshed.
AS already stated, about twenty to
thirty pounds of mother seed are suffi-
grown all the material NEEDED to plant
ten acres of seed beets in the following
spring.
In Germany, on an average, LOO to
1,S00 pounds of beet seed are harvested
from one acre; therefore ten acres will
average 1900 to $4,000 pounds. In
las,.fry
pounds of mother seed sown the first
year will produce at the end of the Sec
ond 1900 to $4,000 pounds, equal to
100 sacks of beet seed, with which to
raise crop beets for the sugar factory
AS much depends upon the proper
condition of the soil, it is well to re-
mark once more that the ground should
be in good condition, l. e., thoroughly
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 ibeets are planted in the second
year should be in the very best state
of fertility, from the application of sta
BILE manure and commercial fertilizers,
BY reducing as much as possible the
heterogeneous matter in the first year, the
growth of the small seed beets will be
retarded, but they will attain a. very
high percentage of sugar; and by push
ing them the second year with strenu-
Gus fertilizers they will yield a 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 seeds losetheir vir-
tue of terminating. All seed that is we'll
matured and has become thoroughly
dry and been brought to shelter with
out being again exposed to damp
weather will terminate quickly.
The contracts for German mother
seed sold to Russia are made on the fol-
lowing basis: The seed is furnished on
condition that the seller will ultimate
ly get $1.70 for every 100 pounds of beet
seed harvested. To protect himself, he
at the same time demands that If the
crop should be failure, he gets $3.50
for each sack of ITO pounds of mother
seed, of which $119 per sack must be
paid in advance upon delivery of the
seed. At first this seems to be an ex-
travagantly high price. but when it is
borne in mind that one sack of mother
seed will yield ordinarily, at the end of
two years, 1000 sacks of beet seed
(worth at the present market price of
IS per sack, about s1,1O0) it will be adj
mitted that the cost is none too high,
and that the experiment is worth try
ing.
TIT A r r ~ A ~