EXPERlilEXT STATION BLLLETIXS 



239 



none of the elements supposed to contribute directly to soil fertility, and were the 

 refuse of the beet factory returned to the farm there need be no serious soil exhaus- 

 tion. An experiment was bejrun this year in a small Avay to determine the value of 

 this material in maintaining the fertility of the land. 



Plots of 1-44 acre eacli of sandy soil were selected for tliis work. The ground 

 had produced beets the previous year and was of such a character that only slight 

 yields could be expected. Unfortunately, the land available for this work left none 

 for an untreated plot after the several materials were applied. We did apply air-slaked 

 lime to compare with the sugar house lime, antl noted that the latter Avas so wet 

 and lumpy that a satisfactory incorporation with the soil could not be secured. The 

 results too are for such small area and the coefficient of error is so large that calcula- 

 tions for field areas are only indicative and should be regarded as such. 



Table shoicing results from factory refuse used as a fertiliser. 



As noted above, the sugar factory lime could not be satisfactorily applied, and 

 the results in all probability are not what tliey would have been had the material 

 been applied in a pulverized form and well worked into the soil. In bulk practically 

 the same quantity of each form of lime was used. 



Throughout the growing season the beets on the molasses plot were decidedly the 

 best, while the diflerences among the others were so slight as to be unnoticed. 



The results here obtained, while unsatisfactory and inconclusive, are yet of signifi- 

 cance enough to demand further experimentation along this line. The application 

 of any one of these materials is, at most, only a partial supply of elements needed to 

 maintain soil fertility. All three might come nearer to furnishing a ''balanced ration,"' 

 while the addition of some one or two elements from another source might result in a 

 complete fertilizer of great economic value. / 



Below is the analysis of the materials used in this experiment as reported by the 

 chemist of the Michigan Experiment Station : 



Ammonia 



Phosphoric acid 



Potash 



Lime (Ca O) 



Lime cake. 



.18 



.35 



.28 



22.47 



Molasses. 



1.49 

 .027 

 2.43 



Beet pulp. 



.24 



.045 



.084 



tf:st of vauiktiks. 



Fourteen varieties of sugar beet seed were tested the past season, giving yields and 

 analyses as recorded in table below. Tlie seed of the several varieties came to the 

 Experiment Station through the United States Department of Agriculture at Washing- 

 ton, and American agents for sugar beet seed. The ground, a sandy loam, was plowed 

 and subsoiled one week before sowing the seed and given good preparation for seeding 

 by thoroughly rolling and harrowing. Unlcached hardwood ashes analj'zing 1.51 per 

 cent phosphoric acid and C.40 per cent potash were ajvpliod on the giound before 

 seeding and tliorouglily harrowed in at the rate of 2,000 jvounds per acre. After the 

 beets were thinned nitrate of soda was sown at the rate of 110 pounds per acre between 



