Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-19
RAISING SUGAR BEET SEED
Russians Successfully Break in on German
and French Monopoly.
CHANCE FOR AMERICA TO DO LIKEWISE
Methods by which the Best Quality of
seed IL Produced Outlined by
Consul Diederick at
Bremen.
(From a Stan Correspondents

CFrom a Stan Correspondent)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1S.-(Special.)-
Henry w. Diederick, United States consul
at Bremen, in 4 paper to the State depart
ment on the cultivation Of beet seed from
imported mother seed, says;
1t is impossible for men interested in the
beet-sugar. industry In the United States to
ATTACH too much importance to every phase
As. is well known. most of the seed is
imported, mainly from Germany and
France, where specialists have for genera
tons, through scientific methods of breed
ing and selection, succeeded in growing
seed for beets with high sugar contents.
therefore efforts are being made in divers
sugar-producing countries to grow the sup
far has been rather Indifferent, particularly
in the United States, as / am Informed.
Even II the grower has all the scientific
as to details. he still has many more diff
ncuities chose originating from our soil
foreign seed grower. Thus ii is a well
known fact that many kinds of hlgh-grade
seed will degenerate more rapidly In our
considerable progress has been made in
this direction, and there is every reason to
beet seed will reach the standard that has
been attained by the growers in Germany
and France.
Outlines Russian Process.
desire to call attention to a method
which has bUen employed by Russian
growers of seed during recent seasons, and
has proved very successful. They import
German mother seed. from which they
raise, in the course Of two years, a crop
of first-class beet seed with all the quail
ties of the original. In this way, II is said,
they get the very best seed at half the
cost. Some of our beet-sugar people, may
consider il worth while to see II good
marketable beet seed can not also be
grown In our W country from imported
The process used in Russia is very sim
pie. The mother seed Is sown with a ma
chine drill in rows that are ten to twelve
pounds to the acre. After the seed has
sprouted and sprung up the hoe must be
Kept busy to prevent the weeds from grow
the plants are not thinned, as is done when
crop beets are raised for sugar, but are
allowed to grow until fall, Just as they
were sown. Before frost 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. TIL smooth and perfect ones
are then put into pits, together with their
layers are put together, with their tops
outward and the roots almost touching
each other and the entire row Is gradually
at the start and adding thereto with in
creasing cold weather, until the covering
becomes about a yard thick lin RussIal, so
that they may not suffer from rain, frost
or insects. The soil in which the mother
seed Is sown should not be previously fer
tilted with fresh stable manure or with
any commercial fertilizer of a strong nj
trogenous character, but only with nitrate
of potash or phosphoric acid. ~.
Second Years Growth. .
In the following spring the small seed
beets are taken out of the pits, again as
which has been thoroughly fertilized with
stable manure or nitrate of potash or phos-
phoric acid and is in a high state of culti-
started they must be constantly kept free
from weeds They are allowed to grow till
the seed turns brown in color, when the
stalks are cut and put into bundles. These
remain out in othegtasld nntk1+Ae stalks be-
come dry, when they are Brought TO the
sSGnt f t%ent tSre fo fSirty AS pod f1ESsrs " iSotSSs
seed are sufficient for one acre. From
this can be grown all the material needed
to plant ten acres Of seed beets In the fof-
lowing spring. s1%
As to results. In Germany on an average
loo to 1880 pounds of beet seed are hai-
will average 1900 to 1S-Do0 pounds. In other
words, the twenty or thirty pounds Of
mother seed sown the first year will pro-
duce at the end of the second 1900 to 1900
pounds, equal to 100 sacks of beet seed,
with which to raise crop beets for the sugar
Condition of SOIL.
As much depends upon the proper con-
ANANh " - u.s. - - % ma OAlS0
more that the ground should be in good
condition, 1. e.. thoroughly plowed and cul-
must not be at ali 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 Of
stable manure and commercial fertilizers.
trogenous matter in the first year, the
growth Of the small seed beets will be re-
tarded, but they will attain a very high
percentage of sugar; and by pu hin them
the second year with strenuous fertilizers,
they will yield a heavy crop of fully de-
which dry weather predoTnInates in the
fall. After the stalks have been cut they
should. be protected as much as possible
from the wet, otherwise the seeds lose their
virtue of terminating. All seed that is
well matured and has become thoroughly
dry and been brought to shelter without
terminate quickly. OF course, there will
be details in this. as In every other bust
ness, which will have to be found. out by
experience, but the general principles OF
this method of producing homegrown beet
seed will be readily adapted to the Yaria-
lions of our climate and soil
The contracts for German mother seed
sold 10 Russia are made on the following
basis, The seed Is furnished on conditions
that the seller will ultimately get $40 for
every 100 pounds OF beet seed harvested.
To protect himself, he at the same time
demands that II the crop should be a fail
ure, he gets $50 for each sack of ITO pounds
of mother seed. of which $119 per. sack must
be paid In advance, upon delivery of the
s SaStlv AZ bir n5S Sri Lnls S Ssfn wb 20 R + an S extra a
MIND that one sack of mother seed will
yield ordinarily. at the end OF two years,
1000 sacks of beet seed worth at the pres
ent market price IS per sack, about S,1OO)
II will be admitted that the cost is none
too high, and that the experiment is worth
trying.
nENUEP uni nc cEI EppATI0N