EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 181 



the agents of the foreign producer. In 1902 this plan was abandoned. 

 Each factory donated to the station ten pounds of seed of each variety 

 it used. The seed was tested for germination and vitality, divided into 

 three parts and grown in three different locations on different kinds of 

 soil and under different climatic conditions. 



At the college the varieties were sown in tenth acre plots on a level 

 area of dark loam. Wood ashes were applied at the rate of half a ton 

 per acre. The plots were 8 rods long by 2 rods wide. The rows were 

 18 inches apart. The seed was sown May 3 and May 5. The spring 

 was wet and ground sticky and hardly fit to work when the seed was 

 sown. On the 8th of May and again on the 15th a Breed's weeder was 

 run over the field crosswise the rows and cultivation with hand culti- 

 vators began May 20th. The beets were "blocked" May 2()th and culti- 

 vated again between May 28th and June 1st. 



Thinning began June 4th and ended June 11th. The beets were 

 thereafter cultivated frequently enough to keep the surface stirred and 

 loose. The beets were hoed a second time August 1st. 



The harvesting occurred October 12-15. The beets lay in piles covered 

 with leaves until October 23d when they were weighed and again 

 sampled. The per cents of sugar given are averages of duplicate sam- 

 ples. 



At Alma the beets were planted on the farm of Mr. Fred Church. The 

 soil was a heavy clay loam. The planting was greatly delayed by con- 

 tinuous rainfall and was not completed until May 30th. 



Through the wet season the cultivation was kept up as well as the 

 condition of the soil would allow. Harvesting began October 21st, but 

 was not completed for several weeks on account of rain. The beets 

 were delivered and weighed at irregular intervals up to December KJth, 

 although the samples for analysis at the college were taken October 

 24th. In the table below, therefore, the sugar in the beets as found at 

 the college is given and the sugar found in them by the factory on de- 

 livery is also given. The yields of sugar per acre are estimated using 

 the per cents of sugar found at the factory. 



The third field devoted to variety tests was on the farm of A. F. 

 Goodnoe, west of Lansing. The soil was a deep black, alluvial, loose, 

 rich prairie-like soil. The seed was planted on May 15, the soil being 

 in ideal condition. The cultivation, thinning and care of the crop was 

 well attended to but the very wet season caused the beets to be flooded 

 and drowned out in spots to such an extent that all calculations of yield 

 were out of the question. Samples were secured for analysis, however, 

 and the table below will show that notwithstanding the fact that the 

 constant Hooding made the beets globular in form, the per cent of sugar 

 on these plots was actually much higher than on those at the college or 

 at Alma. 



The following factories generously donated seed for this test: 



The Bay City Sugar Company. 



The Michigan Sugar Company. 



The Lansing Sugar Company. 



The Holland Sugar Company. 



The ilarine City Sugar Company. 



The German-American Sugar Company. 



The Alma Sugar Company. 



The West Bay City Sugar Company. 



