362 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



in weigh! of I ts sent to the station was sufficient to make a difference of from 3 to 



i\ per cent in the sugar content. A beel stripped of its leaves but not topped, sent 

 by mail well wrapped, and in transit 72 hours lust 13.79 per cent in weight, while 

 a topped sample sent under the same conditions lost 12.90 per cent. 



An experimenl in lifting beets, to prevent a second growth, by breaking the tap 

 roots and tearing the lateral roots, seemed in the particular instance to have pre- 

 vented a change in the composition of the beets. 



The weight of the roots, crowns, and leaves in 2 lots of clean, untopped beets 

 was determined and the results showed that the leaves and crowns constituted from 

 40 to 44 per cent of the weight of the topped beets. The quantities of leaves and 

 crowns in each test were about equal in weight. 



A test of 16 varieties was conducted in 3 localities on different types of soil. 

 The variation in sugar content in the same variety grown under different conditions 

 was quite marked, and the results did not show that any one variety was superior on 

 all 3 types of soil. 



The studies on the exhaustion of the soil by beets was continued (E. S. R., 15, p. 

 35). Oats, beets, and corn were grown on plats of light sandy loam soil. One of 

 the plats had produced beets 3 years in succession, while the others had been under 

 different crop rotations. The yield of all these crops on the soil having been in beets 

 for •'! successive years was much smaller than the yields on the 2 plats under rotation, 

 and this is regarded as showing conclusively how continued beet culture would injure 

 a light sandy loam soil. In summing up the results of a series < if distance experiments 

 the author states that a row narrower than 22 in. is advisable only on the very richest 

 soils, and that a greater distance up to 28 in. between the rows is more profitable on 

 soils of average fertility. 



The fertilizer tests reported show that complete commercial fertilizer applications 

 are profitable. The substances used were nitrate of soda and sulphate of potash 

 given at the rate of 100 and 200 lbs. per acre, and dissolved South Carolina rock, at 

 the rate of 200 and 400 lbs. per acre. The 3 plant-food elements were needed on all 

 plats in the test except on one, w T hich yielded nearly 15 tons per acre without the 

 use of fertilizers. The results of work in previous years, showing that on the college 

 farm reasonable quantities of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in beet culture 

 may be applied with profit, are summarized. 



An experiment was conducted in cooperation with this Department on the preven- 

 tion of leaf blight by spraying with Bordeaux mixture or by manuring with nitrate 

 of soda or common salt. The results did not warrant definite conclusions, but spray- 

 ing apparently reduced leaf blight. Nitrate of soda gave a dark color to the plants. 

 Common salt produced vigorous plants, but yellow in color, and did not show any 

 effect on leaf blight. 



Phosphate and potash fertilizers for beets, D. Kochenovski (Zhur. Opuitn. 

 Agron., 5 (1904), No. 3, pp. 82G-827). — The results here reported were obtained in the 

 chemical laboratory of the Smyela Estate, owned by the Counts Bobrinski. 



A series of 70 analyses of various beet soils showed that the soil yielding beets of 

 the highest quality contained a smaller amount of nitrogen in relation to potash and 

 phosphoric acid than the soils producing beets of inferior quality. From these results 

 it appears that fertilizing with phosphoric acid and potash would improve the quality 

 of the beets. On further investigation the author found that the beets poorest in 

 quality for manufacturing purposes contained relatively the greatest amount of nitro- 

 gen. The contents of phosphoric acid stood in inverse ratio to the total weight of the 

 root, and the consumption of potash was approximately proportional to the yield. 



It is concluded that in order to obtain a large yield of good beets the soil must 

 receive a definite amount of phosphoric acid and a large quantity of potash. It is 

 stated that on soils containing less than 0.02 per cent of available phosphoric acid the 

 use of phosphatic fertilizers is advantageous. The objection to the use of different 



