210 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the Department. It was sown April 30th on series H of the station plots, in plots 

 running east and west, rows eighteen inches apart, eleven rows to the plot, plots 

 eight rods long. The plan of the experiment was as follows, the plots numbered 

 from the north. 



Plot 1 — No treatment. 



Plot 2 — Spray with Bordeaux mixture at intervals of one week, beginning about 

 .Tuly 1st and continued until the weather turns cool in the fall. 



Plot 3 — Spray with- Bordeaux mixture at Intervals of two weeks, beginning 

 about July 1st and continue until weather turns cool In the fall 



Plot 4 — No treatment. 



Plot 5 — Nitrate of soda at the rate of 300 lbs. per acre, just before planting. 



Plot 6 — Nitrate of soda, 150 lbs. per acre, just before planting. 



Plot 7 — Nitrate of soda, 150 lbs. per acre, just before planting, and a similar 

 application about July 1st. 



Plot 8 — Nitrate of soda, 150 lbs. per acre, July 1st. 



Plot 9 — Nitrate of soda, 300 lbs. per acre, July Ist. 



Plot 10 — No treatment. 



Plot 11 — Common salt, 200 lbs. per acre, just before planting 



Plot 12 — Common salt, 300 lbs. per acre, just before planting. 



Plot 13 — Common salt, 500 lbs, per acre, just before planting, 



Following this plan plot 5 received fifteen pounds of nitrate of soda and plots 

 G and 7 each seven and five-tenths pounds on April 30th, the fertilizers being 

 well harrowed in before planting. Plot 11 had ten pounds of salt, plot 12 fifteen 

 pounds and plot 33, twenty-five pounds, the salt also being thoroughly harrowed 

 in before the seed was planted. 



All plots were drilled in to beet seed April 30th, eighteen pounds of seed per acre. 



The season was extremely wet but fortunately this series of plots was on high, 

 well-drained land and did not suffer materially from standing water except plots 

 5 and 6. Plots 9, 10, 11, and 12 were on rather higher ground with the soil some- 

 what lighter in color and in physical constitution. The soil varied therefore from 

 a clay loam to a sandy loam. It had corn in 1902, a heavy coat of barnyard manure 

 in the spring of 1902, and had common red clover in 1900 and 1901, It was plowed 

 about seven inches deep and was not subsoiled. 



Owing to the wetness of the season the plots had to be hoed frequently to keep 

 the weeds out of the rows. They were hoed May 29, June 16, July 8. They were 

 cultivated May 27, .Tune 25, July 3, July 14, August 7 and August 14, with the 

 Jiorse cultivator and several times with the hand hoe to break the crust. 



They were thinned June 5th. 



On July 3 plots 7 and 8 each received 7.5 lbs. of nitrate of soda and plot 9, 15 lbs. 



The spraying was done as follows, July 6th, plots 2 and 3; July 14th, plot 2; 

 July 27th, plots 2 and 3; August 7th, August 14th, August 2l3t, and September 5th, 

 plots 2 and 3. 



The leaf blight did not appear early and was not bad at any time during the 

 season. It appeared about July 15th, spreading from the south and apparently from 

 some rows of mother beets, four rods south of this series of plots and parallel 

 with them. The spraying seemed to lessen the amount of leaf spot very perceptibly, 

 the sprayed plots being much thriftier in appearance, cleaner and more vigorous 

 than the plots on either side not treated. The plots having nitrate of soda were 

 darker in color, especially the plots having the second application in July. The 

 beets on the plots treated with common salt were yellow in color but very vigorous, 

 the tops being taller than on either of the other plots. They were neither free 

 from leaf blight nor worse afflicted with it than the plots receiving no treatment. 

 The beets were harvested October 20th. The yields are given in the table below with 

 the per cent of sugar estimated from an analysis of ten beets from each plot: 



