The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-04-08
FORMATION OF
SUGAR IN BEETS

This subject Is of the utmost i'm
portancc. both To the grower rs well
as 10 the manufacturer To the farm
er for two reasons. First. the sugar
In the beet costs him nothing: II does
not draw upon the fertility OF the soil.
even though II be true that the more
fertile the soil the greater per cent Of
sugar will be made by the beet II Is
well established and generally known
that in the leaf and by the leaf alono
Is sugar produced: that us elementary
constituents are oxygen. hydrogen and
carbon. and that these elements all
come from the air and the water in
the soil. Second. the farmer who
produces the beet with the highest
per cent OF sugar will be sought after
most by the factory people. and any
additional benefits that might accrue
through the introduction OF the sliding
scale. would. OF course. come first TO
the man who could produce the best
beet
The benefits derived through raising
beets OF high quality from a factory
standpoint ls obvious 20 all and need
not be discussed here.
And now as TO the process OF sugar
making by the plant Scientists have
discovered that the protoplasm mixed,
With chlorophyll In tho leaf Is the
real workshop OF sugar production
BY means of light the leaf Is capable
OF assimilatlng the carbonic acid OF
the air and the water from the roots,
and this process enables the produc-
ton OF carbohydrates, and hcnce OF
sugars. which are transferred through
the veins and stems to the root and
and there deposited.
IL Will be readily seen that the
amount OF sugars made by the leaves
of the plant Will be governed almost
entirely by the structure of the
leaves and the amount OF light AS
regards the influence OF light tho
quantity OF foliage. the position OF the
leaves, the age and size OF the leaves
and the period OF exposure. taken to-
gether, will govern that phenomenon
1t has been demonstrated that In gen
eral beets high in sugar content have
abundant foliage. and that the temper
ature and intensity OF light play an
important part In the production OF
sugar. The more continuously the
sky is cloudy and the lower the tenn
PNl lhbul's Aht lNbh 10 Nut lutItuht III
sugar. In this connection Il will be
obvlent 10 the careful observer that
the farmers part In this process ls TO
grow plants with q healthy. abundant
foliage. Providence alone can be
trusted to the supply of proper heat
and light. except In the matter OF
spacing and thinning. where again the
farmer must use good judgment.
II may be we'll TO call attention here
to the matter Of fertilization in so far
as it concerns the immediate produc-
tion of sugar. There arc two sub
stances upon which the production OF
sugar depends. namely. potash and
phosphoric acid, and which the farmer
must supply 10 the soil. II has been
proven that a plant without potash
cannot form starch or sugar The
function OF potash in the process OF
assimilation is TO act as transferrer
of energy and condensc formaldehyde
into starch and sugar After this pro-
cess the sugars must be transferred
TO the root This can be accomplished
only by changing the nature of the
sugars, for they are not capable OF
diffusion IN their present form. and
the cane sugar as such cannot make
the Quincy 10 the root without the
principle of diffusion. The phosphoric
acid has the power to make the neces-
sary change In the sugars, 80 that
they may be carried TO the root, whore
they are again changed from reducing
sugar back into sugar cane.
While there are few fundamental
principles or sugar formation under
stood by the students OF today, yet
their knowledge OF the subject re-
mains quite incomplete and many
points are still obscure II the pro-
cesses involved were better under
stood there would he less difficulty in
promoting those processes that favor
ably AFFECT the formation OF sugar in
the beet II cannot be questioned that
the farmers OF today could Increase
the Yield Of sugar In the beet provided
they familiarizcd themselves more
with the facts already at hand and put
into practice the principles which are
known to be conductive 10 the biggest
production OF sugar