426 Bulletin i66. 



Three fungus diseases, root rot of beets (Rhizocionia Betes 

 Kiihn.), leaf spot of the beet {Cercospora beticola Sace.) and beet 

 scab {Ospora scabies Thaxter.),also made their appearance in 

 sufficient abundance to attract attention, and in a number of cases 

 to inflict considerable damage. These have received prompt atten- 

 tion by the Botanical Division and the result is embodied in Bul- 

 letin 163, to which the reader is referred for further information. 



Harvesting the crop. — The labor involved in harvesting the 

 crop of sugar beets seems to be greater than most farmers have 

 anticipated. The excessive rains of the autumn, though they 

 caused the roots to be lifted from the soil more easily, made it 

 much more difficult to get them reasonably free from dirt, or to 

 draw them from the fields, and added very much to the discom- 

 fort of the workmen while performing the somewhat tedious 

 work of removing the tops and crowns. Better weather and 

 more experience will no doubt permit the work to be done with 

 greater despatch. It is suggested that a more general use of 

 bushel crates in handling the beets will facilitate the labor. 



Quality of the beets grow?i in i8g8. — The beets analyzed in 

 1897 averaged 16.06 per cent of sugar in the beet and 83.5 per 

 cent purity. In speaking of the high quality indicated b}^ these 

 figures, on page 496, Bulletin 143, it is stated : " It is known 

 that some seasons are more favorable to a high quality of beets 

 than others, and perhaps the past season, notabl^^dry in August, 

 September and October, produced beets of more than normal 

 richness. It will not be surprising then if the high quality of 

 beets secured this season is not maintained in the future with 

 different weather conditions while the beets are maturing." 



The season of 1898 was very different from that of 1897, 

 Instead of being " notably drj- in August, September and 

 October," the precipitation during these months was very much 

 above the normal (see p. 467 ). In some localities it was almost 

 impossible to get on the land to take off the crop. It is not sur- 

 prising then that the percentage of sugar in the beet is reduced 

 to 14.53, afallingoff of 1.53 per cent in sugar from last year. 

 The purity remains practically the same (see p. 455). It may 

 be assumed that we have experienced in these two years one of 

 the most favorable and one of the most unfavorable seasons for 



