EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



233 



It will be seen that so far our results with lime on the high land contradict those 

 produced upon the muck. Further work of this character will be conducted, making 

 more thorough applications of the lime, on new land and continuing it on the same soil. 



The application of lime to some soils, especially the older soils of the east, show 

 marked beneficial results. 



*In Rhode Island, in 1893, with nitrate nitrogen, the yield of sugar beets was in- 

 creased 12.17 times by applying air slaked lime at the rate of 2.7 tons per acre, by 

 adding another half ton the following year the yield was still eleven times greater than 

 the unlimed plot. 



tWest Virginia Experiment Station gives no tables of yields, but states from a com- 

 parison of nine plots unlimed and nine limed with thirty bushels air slaked lime per 

 acre, that the application of lime "reduced the sugar content and the percentage of 

 purity." 



DATE OF PLANTII^G. 



The experience of the German farmers and the fact that such roots as the table beet, 

 Swedish turnip and mangel wurzels admit of a wide range in the date of planting led 

 us to conduct this experiment. 



As soon as the temperature of the ground had reached a degree that would germinate 

 the seed, say 50° F., planting was begun and continued every week for six weeks. The 

 ground selected for the experiment was dry and light, having produced beets the previous 

 year. An application of commercial fertilizer — 500 pounds per acre — was made a few 

 days previous to sowing the seed. The dates of sowing were April 22, April 29, May 6, 

 May 13, May 20 and May 27. 



The first planting was up in nine days; the second in seven; the third in nine, while 

 the last three plantings required about seven days to germinate and prick through 

 the ground. 



Cultivation with hand tools was begun as soon as the rows were visible and per- 

 formed twice before thinning. The first planting was thinned May 22, and the second 

 ready ss soon as the first was finished. 



The growth of plot three was cheeked by the severe cold weather which followed the 

 time of its planting,, while plots one and two seemed to be but little affected by the cold 

 weather at that time. 



Plots four, five and six grew normally, and after they were thinned, June 10 to 18, 

 appeared to be overtaking the earlier planted beets. Through the dry period, during 

 July and August, the later planted beets showed signs of greater thrift than their 

 older neighbors. When the summer drouth, about August 30, was at its height, the 

 leaves of the early planted beets had completely died and all indications pointed to a 

 complete failure of the crop, but the yields shown in the table below present a very 

 different result. When the fall rains came, the beets all revived, threw out new leaves 

 and made a marked development of root. 



Table of results showing yield per acre and percentage of sugq,r in beets planted 



at different times. 



It will be seen by the above that there is a decided advantage in the matter of yield 

 in favor of early planting, while the percentage of sugar differs only .02% between the 

 first and the last planting, and co-efficient of purity but 3. 



The marked decrease in yield from the later sown seed is most probably due to the 



* Annual report Rhode Island Experiment Station, 1894, p. 158. 

 t Bulletin 55, West Virginia Exi>erii)ient Station, p. 1S7. 

 30 



