But a close investigation of this highly important
problem has still to be made.
The varieties of the cultivated beets are commonly [71] included in four
subspecies. The two smallest are the salad-beets and the ornamental
forms, the first being used as food, and ordinarily cultivated in red
varieties, the second being used as ornamental plants during the fall,
when they fill the beds left empty by summer flowers, with a bright
foliage that is exceedingly rich in form and color. Of the remaining
subspecies, one comprises the numerous sorts cultivated as forage-crops
and the other the true sugar-beets. Both of them vary widely as to the
shape and the size of the roots, the quality of the tissue, the foliage
and other characteristics.
Some of these forms, no doubt, have originated during culture. Most of
them have been improved by selection, and no beet found in the wild
state ever rivals any cultivated variety. But the improvement chiefly
affects the size, the amount of sugar and nutrient substances and some
other qualities which recur in most of the varieties. The varietal
attributes themselves however, are more or less of a specific nature,
and have no relation to the real industrial value of the race. The
short-rooted and the horn-shaped varieties might best be cited as
examples.
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