The Delta independent., 1914-12-04
About Sugar Beet Seed.

OF securing sugar beet seed has been
prepared by F. H. Hathaway, secre-
tary of all the American sugar beet
fgrowers and was read in congress
during a discussion of The sugar IN
dustry before the house on .,'ctcl,cI
l21st:
An intelligent reply to your inquiry
concerning beet seed is rather diff
cult within the limits of an ordinary
letter, still l may be able to give You
some idea of the question, and will
enlarge on these the next time have
An attempt is being made at the
present time to raise some beet seed
in one of our western states. The
difficulty connected with this at
tempt is three-fold.
First, it requires a very large capi-
tai to raise beet seed in scientific
way, which is the only way in which
the seed can be successfully produced.
The five leading seed firms in Ger
many each has invested somewhere
from $4,000. 900 to s20,OOO.O0O in their
operations. These firms produce
probably s5 per cent of all seed rails
ed in Germany.
Second, this industry requires an
immense amount of hand labor. In
Germany they pay from 35 cent to
As cents per day for this labor. You
know what it costs in America.
Third, to produce reliable COM
mercial beet seed requires eight
years. and each seed would be worth
less if there was no one in this coun-
ltry to buy it. The fiscal policy of
the United States is not such as to
induce capital to embark in an enter
prise in the face of the existing law
providing for free sugar in 1916.
1 visited four or five large beet
seed producers in Germany. Two of
the five are located near Madgeburg
two near Quedlingburg. and one at
INordhausen. Two of them make an
exclusive business of raising beet
seed, and the beets being rotated with
other crops. Two OF these concerns
also have large estates in Russia.
On another plantation that l visit
ed ! found that the percent of mother
beets was practically the same. On
an acre there are some 10000 beets,
and this second concern obtained
from 10000 beets only 6 beets to the
acre.
Every one of these mother beets is
carefully photographed. and its de-
lscription recorded so carefully that it
could be distinguished from every
other beet just as effectually as one
mans thumb print distinguishes him
from another individual These
} mother beets were last spring set out
in families of four. each family being
so segregated that it would be kept
by itself This made about 220 fam
lilies out of the S75 mother beets
raised by Mette that were producing
seed this year Some of these fam
lilies prove worthless. This process
of rejection and selection will be con-
tinued four generations, or eight
years. before seed is placed on the
market as commercial seed. In other
words. it takes eight years to produce
commercial seed according to the
scientific plans followed in the pro-
duction of seed in Germany.
You will readily see that if there
had been no scientific test of these
been solely depended upon to select
the mother beets there would have
been 100000 mother beets out of the
original 1.400. 900 rather than SIS. |
fear that in the attempt now being
made to raise seed in the United
States those who are engaged in the
business are depending solely upon
visual examination of the beets to
select the mother beets from which
the seed is to be produced, thus get
ting seed in two years instead of
eight years.
The scientific plan outlined above
is the one followed by all of the lead
ing beet seed concerns in Germany
and il is because of this plan they
have been able to increase the sugar
content and purity of beets in very
marked degree during the last so
years. I might say that these lead
ing German firms engaged in the
production of beet seed have been in
the business all the way from 60
years to 125 years and the present