SUGAR BEET AT WOODVILLE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 10071, 12 August 1895, Page 2

SUGAR BEET AT WOODVILLE.

OUR Bosh readera wilt be specially interested in an experiment ia sugar beet onltnre, nnderbaken by Mr W. H. Nelson. He obtained the seeda of two varieties— Vilmorln'a Whltp Improved and Vllmorin'a French— from Mi H. S. Tiffen, who imported them from France. Some were : sown la ft stiff clay soil, unsuitable for beet, and did no good. The rest was pat in alluvial soil, and did well. Roots were sent to Mr Skey, Government Analyst, whose report Is as follows :— Vllmorin'a White Improved. — Font roots, average weight 2Jib. The average sugar ia these roots is 11 '7 per cent. One of these (a reddish root externally), afforded 13 5 per cent of sugar ; weight of root 2Jlb ; this is an excellent yield, Vilmorin's French. — Four roots, rather laige, about 31b average. Average sngar per cent is 10 16 All these toots nre well shaped and eonnd. These returns are fairly good. Sir James Hector, in a letter accompanying the report, says that both samples wonld give about) the same actoal yield, as the lower per-centage of sugar in the French varleby is almost entirely made up by the larger crop. The White Improved yield was at> the rate of 15 tons 16cwt per acre, which wonld give 41411 b sngar per acre. The French variety cropped at the rate of 18 tons 12 cwt per acre, giving 41661 b. " I think," adda Sir James, "you may consider the experiment a fair snccess." Some roots from GreeDmeadows forwarded by Mr Tiffen gave similar reaulba. Ib will be noticed that the percentage of sngar thia year is considerably leas than in the experiments conducted by Mr Tiffen last year. Thia may in sonre measure be dne to a less favorable season, bnb.Mr Tiffen beiievee the chief reason to be that the seed arrived too late to be planted an the most) favorable time. Last) year he got from 12 to nearly 14 per cent of sngar. In California, where the conditions as to the labor market are similar to those here, IS per cent is a payable yie'd, on 13 per cent a farmer can grow rich, and with 14 per cent coon retire on a fortune. The great aim then is to get small roots, which contain less water and a greater percentage of sngar. On oar riab alluvial soils the beet seems to have a tendency to grow unduly large, as the weights quoted above show, bnt probably that could be overcome and a ranch larger proportionate yield of sngar obtained if the roots were grown niora thickly, ao allowing each a smaller area to feed on.