346 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



are to be taken into account i;i the improvement of sorghum for sugar- 

 making purposes are discussed at some length. 



"The question of interval of planting as affecting tonnage per acre, and possibly 

 as affecting m less degree sugar content, calls most urgently for thorough study. It 

 is impossible to know without extensive and intelligently planned experiments 

 exactly what may be expected as the maximum yield of both cane and of sugar. 

 Estimates may be based on what has been done, but with cane as far improved as 

 are these present crops over certain former ones, new experiments specially directed 

 to this end must give valuable and much needed information." 



Sugar beets, J. T. Willard (Kansas Sta. Bui. 78, pp. 65^80). — This is 

 a report on the cooperative culture experiments with sugar beets in 

 1897. Two hundred pounds of seed was distributed to 393 farmers and 

 of these 156 sent samples for examination. The results of analyses are 

 tabulated. The beet-sugar industry in its relation to the State is dis- 

 cussed, and directions given for growing sugar beets. 



The average results deduced from the samples analyzed were as fol- 

 lows: Gross weight per beet, 1.51 lbs.; net weight, 1.09 lbs. ; specific 

 gravity of juice, 1.061; total solids in the juice, 15.52 percent; sugar in 

 the juice, 11.88 per cent; coefficient of purity, 76.1. 



Sugar-beet investigations in 1897, A. D. Selby and L. M. Bloom- 

 field (Ohio Sta. Bui. 90, pp. 123-162, maps 6). — This bulletin contains 

 a detailed tabulation of cooperative culture experiments with the sugar 

 beet in 1897. Maps are given showing the average rainfall and the 

 average isotherms of the State for 15 years for June, July, and August; 

 for these 3 months and September combined; and for September alone. 

 Suggestions concerning beet-sugar factories and cultural methods are 

 noted. The average results of analyses for the entire State show a 

 sugar content of 14 per cent in the juice and a coefficient of purity of 

 78.7. It was found that in general the sugar content and purity of 

 samples taken at different dates increased as the season advanced. 

 Beets grown on clay soils were richer in sugar than beets grown in 

 black loam or sandy soils. Samples grown on muck lands were espe- 

 cially poor in quality. 



Wyoming sugar beets, E. E. Slosson and B. C. Buffum ( Wyo- 

 ming Sta Bui. 36, pp. 189-205). — In this bulletin the results of experi- 

 ments in sugar-beet culture for the years 1891 to 1897, inclusive, are 

 reported in tables. The earlier experiments were made by the station 

 on 5 experimental farms located in different parts of the State, and 

 the later ones by a number of farmers throughout the State. The 

 average results obtained on the experimental farms are given in the 

 following table : 



