684 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



content. Some of them weighed 2.5 lbs. and yielded onlj^ 10 per cent 

 of sugar in the juice, with a purity coefficient of 07; while the general 

 average weight elsewhere was less than 0.9 lb., with an average sugar 

 content of 15.5 per cent, and purity between 85 and 90. 

 The author draws the following conclusions from the results: 



"Sugar beets of good aud even liigh grade, both as to sugar aud purity, may 

 be growu ou lands eontaining as much as 12,000 lbs. of alkali salts per acre to the 

 depth of 3 ft. ; provided, that the percentage of common salt in the soil does not 

 exceed an average of 0.04 per cent, or 1,500 lbs., per acre. . . . 



"As regards the carbonate, inasmuch as it is easily convertible into sulphate by 

 means of gypsum, the tigure for its maximum tolerance is not of first importance; 

 but so far as our experiments go, it seems to lie near 0.076 per cent, or 3,000 lbs., per 

 acre for the first foot^ — implying probably about 4,000 lbs. for the first 3 or 4 ft. 

 Within the limits of our experience at Chino the carbonates do not appear to be 

 more injurious to the quality of the roots than the sulphates, aud not near as much 

 as the chlorids (common salt). 



"As regards the sulphates, the maximum amount found to be jiresent at any point 

 where good beets were obtained was 0.179 per cent of the soil, or 7,200 lbs. jier acre 

 in the first foot — implying, for the total depth of 3 ft., about one-fourth more, or a 

 total of 9,000 lbs. per acre. . . . 



"These results emphasize the importance of ascertaining the total of salts present 

 in the soil stratum of 3 to 4 ft., which may ultimately rise to the surface under culti- 

 vation or irrigation; and this is the more important because, as the present example 

 shows, the texture of the soil may cause so great a difierence in the appearance of 

 the surface efflorescence), that lands perfectly capable of being profitably cultivated 

 may, to the eye, be too heavily impregnated for that purpose." 



Experiments vrith mineral fertilizers upon sugar beets in 1895, 



A. ViviER {Ann. 8ci. Agron., ser. ;J, :2 {1896), I, No. 3, pp. o74-38i). — 

 These experiments were made upon 12 10-are (119.6 sq. yd.) jilats. 

 The general history of the field for 14 years and detailed data of ferti- 

 lizers applied and crops produced for each year since 1887, the compo- 

 sition of the soil, and meteorological data are given. The fertilizers 

 used were applied at the following rates : Nitrate of soda, 800, GOO, 400, 

 and 200 kg. per hectare; superphosphate 1,000, 700, and 400 kg.; and 

 muriate of potash, 250 and 150 kg. One plat of each group received 

 no application of the special fertilizer tested, but with others of the 

 group was given a medium application of the other two fertilizers. 

 All the plats received barnyard manure at the rate of 35,000 kg. per 

 hectare. The beets were counted when pulled, weighed, aud samples 

 analyzed; and tables are given showing for each plat the total weight 

 of crop, mean weight of roots harvested and analyzed, density of juice, 

 quotient of purity, saline coefficient, and sugar per deciliter and per 

 hectare. 



From the results of the year and preceding experiments in the same 

 line, the author concludes that the crop increases with increased appli- 

 cation of nitrate of soda and the density of the juice decreases at 

 about the same ratio, so that the amount of sugar is not materially 

 altered; and that applications of i)hosphoric acid show little effect 

 upon either weight of crop or density of juice. The plats receiving 



