188 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



following the period of seeding as soon as necessary, and the thinning done with com- 

 plete promptness about tour weeks from the time each crop was sown. 



In the continuous growing of beets on the same soil the development of fungous dis- 

 eases and propagation of insect enemies has been under observation. 



The leaf blight, a spot disease of the leaves — Cercospora beticola, Sacc. — appeared 

 lirst, attacking every leaf, on the earliest plantings, but on the later plantings, although 

 immediately adjacent, it developed no more than on new fields planted at the same time. 



No insect enemies appeared on this or any of the Experiment Station fields except a 

 few grasshoppers, which attacked a small planting of beets on a piece of muck land. 



It was observed, however, that the beets planted early in the season and which were 

 attacked by the leaf blight invariably showed a lower percentage of sugar than did 

 those varieties which were planted later and escaped the attack of this fungus. The 

 beets which showed the highest percentage of sugar were those which grew continuously 

 throughout the season. 



• 



niOTOGRArHED JUNE 20— BEETS PLANTED APRIL 13 AND 24. 



While the dates on which the plantings were made do not occur exactly the same each 

 year, the average dates are the ones used in 1901. It will be noticed that the May 8 

 planting has given the highest yield of sugar, while the May 1 planting is but slightly 

 behind. The yields decrease as we depart either way from the former date. The very 

 early plantings, that is the middle of April have each year been followed by a week of 

 favorable growing weather, while in each case, the planting of April 24 has been followed 

 by unfavorable weather. From these figures it is readily seen as we concluded in a 

 former publication that the time of profitable planting may be extended over quite a 

 considerable area. It is safe to plant beets as early as the middle of April if the ground 

 can be fitted at that time. After the 20th of May, there is a decided decrease in the 

 final results. 



