Abstract Two experiments were carried out at Templeton Research Station to compare North American sugar beets and Northern European sugar and fodder beets. There was some variation in yellowing in the second experiment caused by beet mild yellows virus, and all cultivars were affected by violet root rot. Only a few of the fodder beets and American sugar beets under examination gave sugar yields equal to the 10.3 and 13.6 t/ha average yield of the Northern European sugar beets in the 2 experiments. Fodder beets had higher root fresh weight but lower root sugar content than the sugar beets. Crowns constituted a further 1 t/ha of total sugar for sugar beets, and 0.6 t/ha for fodder beets. Sugar concentration was lower and the proportion of reducing sugars higher in the crowns than in the roots. Fodder beet roots stood higher out of the ground than sugar beets. The North American sugar beets examined generally had more branching roots than the beets from Europe.
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