DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY 



245 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



good varieties of factory beets, the seed of which, however, was obtained locally. 

 The data as regards sugar-content and purity are on the whole very satisfactory. 



The following table will allow a comparison of the averages, as regards sugar- 

 content, obtained since 1902 at several localities included in this investigation. 



Average Percentage of Sugar in Juice in Sugar Beets grown on the Dominion 



Experimental Farms 1902-1912. 



Locality. 



Charlottetown, P. E. I 



Nappan, N. S 



Cap Rouge, Que 



Ottawa, Out 



Brandon, Man . . 



Indian Head, Sask 



Rosthern, Sask 



Lethbridge, Alta., (irrigated). 

 n M (non-irriga 



ted) 



Lacombe, Alta 



Agassiz, B.tJ 



1902 



1903 



15-87 

 16-77 

 15 15 



15 33 



15-34 

 1136 



16 54 



1904 



14 41 



16 91 

 16-62 



15 24 



17 44 



8- 10 



1905 



16 52 



12 45 

 11 09 

 14 • 9 i 



1906 



17-08 



17'32 



14 37 

 15-50 

 14-91 



]428 



1907 



15 44 

 1699 

 15 92 



1908 



17 53 



1909 



16 74 



16 30 

 15 82 

 15'66 



13 34 

 17 65 



16 09 



16 73 

 11-21 



17 15 



14 84 



18-83 

 17 16 



17 91 



18-36 

 12-77 



18 30 



1-910 



14-25 

 16 4.^ 



16-44 

 18 40 



12 69 



19 18 



1911 



17 23 

 1756 



16 16 



13 V 50 



1448 

 1330 



17 02 



14 05 

 16-95 



1912 



15 



it; 

 14 



17 

 13 



15 

 14 

 17 



17 



17 



31 

 68 

 92 

 59 

 40 

 78 

 63 

 41 



68 



53 



In almost every instance, the figures are very satisfactory, indicating beets of a 

 superior quality and eminently suitable for factory purposes. 



FERTILIZING MATERIALS. 



During the year a number of materials have been received for examination as to 

 fertilizing value. Many of these are deposits or other naturally-occurring substances, 

 while others are by-products from manufacturing processes.* Details of a few of 

 these are given, to indicate the varied nature of materials that may be used in agri- 

 culture and to furnish information of more or less general interest to farmers. 



MARL. 



Marl, as generally occurring in Canada, is essentially carbonate of lime, though 

 in many European countries the term has been used to include calcareous mixtures 

 of clay and sand containing as little as 5 per cent of calcium carbonate. 



Shell marl is perhaps the most common of the calcareous deposits, being found 

 to a greater or less extent in all the provinces of the Dominion. Its usual occurrence 

 is beneath the ' muck ' of swamps or forming a deposit on the bottom of fresh water 

 ponds and lakes. The beds, or layers, are of varying thickness, from a few inches to 

 several feet. It is easily recognized by the presence of many small shells, which are 

 imbedded in a matrix consisting of clay, silt and carbonate of lime, formed largely 

 from the disintegration of previous generations of shell fish. When freshly dug it is 

 usually a grayish, pasty mass; on drying it becomes lighter in colour and forms a 

 mass which may be easily crumbled. While here we have merely to do with the use 

 of marl from an agricultural point of view, it may be mentioned that many of these 

 deposits have been found of a high degree of purity, containing, when dry, upwards 



* The official examination of commercial fertilizers sold in Canada is undertaken by the 

 Inland Revenne Department, Ottawa, to whom all inquiries respecting suspected adulteration, 

 etc., should be addressed. 



