Testing the sugar content of beet roots is a meticulous and time-consuming process. You need to pull out a root, cut off a piece, and dip it into a solution of molasses with a precisely defined concentration. If the piece of root floats, it means there’s little sugar in the cells; if it sinks, there’s a lot.
However, breeders working on improving sugar beets head out to the fields with a small flat box strapped to their waist. A long, flexible wire with a needle at the end extends from the box. Once they spot a promising root, the breeder inserts the needle into it, and the needle on the device attached to the box moves. The less sugar in the root, the greater the needle’s deflection.
This needle helps determine the sugar content of beet varieties still in experimental plots.