East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1904-12-26
SUGAR BEET FACTS
ANIERICAN-GRowN SEED is
THE MOST VALUABLE.
Efforts Being Made to Develop an
American Variety, With Excellent
Promise of Succcss-Important
Government Experiments With Fer
tilizers-Work Of Finding Remedies
for and Prevention of Diseases
Sugar Beet at Its Best in Utah

Inc ueNelOpment Oh lne sugar Deet
industry continues satisfactorily, says ,
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, in
his annual report. The bureau of
plant industry is making an effort TO
improve the conditions affecting this
crop in the matter of providing bet
ter seed. encouraging the use OF fer
tilizers where fertilizers are likely to
do good, studying the diseases with
view to discovering remedies for
them, securing improvement in the
matter of seed by the production OF
beets which will give seed of sin
gle ball or germ, etc.
A little more than two years ago the
department again took up the work
of establishing sugar beet seed cul-
ture in the United States, and since
that time work has been going on in
four representative sections of this
country. Strains of pedigreed seed
are being established in New York, |
Michigan, Utah and Washington state,
while in Utah and Washington the in
dustry is already assuming CONNER
cial Importance.
In California also seed is being pro-
duced for local use. In Washington |
state $4,000 pounds of seed were pro-
duced in 1904, in Utah about $4,000
pounds and in California about 5o.-
900 pounds-a total of $4,000
pounds. AS rapidly as the depart
ment can bring home to all the sugar
beet factories the conviction that
American grown seed is as good and
often better than the imported, these
Quantities will be increased, and II is
a question of but few years when
the entire 100000 pounds used in
the United States will be produced at
home.
High Quality American-Grown Seed.
AS to the quality, American-grown
seed has produced beets testing as
high as "a per cent Of sugar. while
the average percentage in all beets
tested from American-grown seed
during 1908 was 1873 per cent The
average percentage of sugar in all
beets grown in the United States, as
shown by the factory returns of their
total extraction, is a little over IL per
J cent. It win be remembered. too.
that the American seed has the bene-
} fit of only two years Of careful selec-
ton. The work of establishing a ped
igreed strain is slow. and wears are
required for the completion of such
an undertaking; but the work is so
far along that its success may be con-
sdered assured
Two years ago the department inn
! ported all the sugar beet seed that
. was distributed for experimental pur-
poses. while during the 1904 season
} $4,000 pounds of American-grown
seed were distributed by the depart
ment to selected farmers for testing
in comparison with imported seed
! furnished to them by the factories.
} The reports on the stand secured
which is generally indicative OF the
B Yield show that the American seed
: gave almost without exception a
! greater growth than the imported
Z seed. In a number of instances those
I portions of fields which were sowr
: with factory seed gave such a pool
stand that they had either TO be re.
B sown or abandoned while the portions
a |
good stands and I'm no case required
. replanting. The factories during 1905
3 bought S4,5OO pounds of American
: grown seed, and a number of thes,
factories are now negotiating with
the American growers for contracts
to supply the seed they need.
Special Fertilizer Work.
~
been made to determine the effect o
different fertilizers on tonnage ant
sugar contents. and also their influ
ence on various diseases.
Investigations along this line wer
undertaken in six sugar beet states
seven brands of complete fertilizer
being used, and in addition some sep
arate experiments with the variou
ingredients used by themselves wer
made The preliminary reports whicl
have been received indicate that fl
many cases the effect of the fertiliz
ers could be seen from the time o
the termination of the beets. In
few cases the lines separating the fer
tllized from the unfertilized plot
could be seen even at the beginninI
of the harvest
A recent report from one of the ex
perimenters states that I'm his worl
with nitrate OF soda the beets iron
the untreated plots were worth $50
per ton and yielded s54.35 worth o
beets per acre. on the adjacent plot
where 300 pounds of nitrate of sod
were applied at the time of planting
the beets were worth $3.50 per tol
and yielded s7457. a difference o
S20.23 per acre in favor of the fertil
ization. The untreated beets teste
14.1 per cent sugar. while those fer
tilted tested 14.4 per cent.
Problems of Epidemics.
The serious epidemics which hav
affected the sugar beet. like the lea
: spot disease of the east and the curl
. top Of the west, have been investl
. gated. Experiments on a large seal
i'm different sections OF the caster
: beet area have shown that the lea
. spot may be readily controlled by tn
. application of Bordeaux mixture
. This remedy has now come into gen
: eral use.
In my last report attention wa
. called to the efforts being made &
: the matter of developing sugar bee
. seeds with single germs. The single
= germ seed would do much to diminis