144 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



cropped heavily without the application of any fertilizer. The different 

 fertilizers were applied singly and in various combinations. Klein- 

 wanzlebener seed was planted May 19 and later on the beets were 

 thinned to 28 plants per plat. Analyses were made October 4, 9, and 

 20 and November G and 27, and in general it may be said there was an 

 increase in the sugar content and purity from the first to the last 

 analysis. The largest yield was obtained from the application of 

 untreated phosphate rock, the highest percentage of sugar from the 

 application of muriate of potash, and the highest coefficient of purity 

 from the use of a complete fertilizer; but, on the whole, the effect of the 

 various fertilizers was not very marked. 



Cultivating beets five or seven times during the season gave prac- 

 tically the same results; and cultivating weekly from June 1 to Sep- 

 tember 5 indicated no appreciable gain over cultivating once every 

 two weeks during the same period. 



The analysis of samples from the cooperative experiments is described 

 in detail and the results are given in tabular form. Analyses of the 

 upper and lower halves of beets showed that the upper halves were 

 richer in sugar, while the purity, with one exception, was higher in the 

 lower. It was found that in pressing beet pulp the juice which first 

 ran from the press was lower in sugar content and purity than that 

 from the last part of the operation; hence the authors advise when 

 making analyses to express as much as possible from the pulp. Anal- 

 yses of 112 samples of beets grown on sandy loam averaged 16.66 per 

 cent of sugar in the juice, with a purity coefficient of 83.1 ; while 109 

 analyses of beets grown on clay loam gave an average sugar content 

 of 17.29, with a purity coefficient of 83.8. The distance between rows 

 had no effect on the quality of the beets. Plats which had received 

 barnyard manure the previous year produced beets higher in sugar 

 content and purity than plats which had received barnyard manure 

 the same season the beets were grown. The effects of previous crops, 

 as pointed out, are in favor of unfilled grain crops as compared with 

 hay, potatoes, corn, and cabbage, but the difference in the quality of 

 beets grown after these crops was small. A series of analyses, made 

 to determine the influence of size of beet on sugar content and purity, 

 showed that in general the smaller the beet when matured the higher 

 the sugar content and coefficient of purity. Beets ranging from 1| to 

 2 lbs. are considered to be most profitable. 



In one experiment the crowns were removed from the beets and ana- 

 lyzed separately. The seven analyses reported show on an average a 

 sugar content of 12 per cent and a coefficient of purity of 73.07 for the 

 crowns, and a sugar content of 13.9, with a purity coefficient of 80.4, for 

 the beets below the crown. 



