562 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



described. The results of tests with beets at the station and elsewhere are shown in 

 tables. 



The average weight of beets grown in cooperative tests was 1 lb. 8.5 oz. The sugar 

 content of the beet was 11.87 per cent, the purity 74.2, and the yield 12£ tons per 

 acre. An experiment in harvesting beets on 7 different dates from September 1!» to 

 ( htober 30, inclusive, showed that in general the average percentage of sugar and of 

 total solids, as well as the purity, increased as the beets were harvested later in the 

 season. 



A test of 6 different varieties at the station resulted in favor of Zehringen No. 3942, 

 which produced beets averaging in weight 15.3 oz., and containing 16.2 per cent of 

 sugar and 20.2 percent of total solids, with a purity of 83.8. Results obtained in 

 similar work in 1901 are presented for comparison. The results of 1903 are con- 

 sidered unsatisfactory. 



Culture experiments with sugar beets, Landrin and Legras (Semaine Agr., 

 f?4 {1904), No. 1195, pp. 117, 118). — Cooperative tests with varieties of beets of low 

 and high sugar content are reported. The varieties low in sugar are really rich fodder 

 beets, while the other varieties represent the common sugar beet. 



The average tonnage of beets obtained was largely in favor of the varieties low in 

 sugar, but the yields of sugar did not show very great differences between the 2 

 classes of varieties. The roots of the varieties low in sugar produced more dry mat- 

 ter, contained more water than the sugar beets, and were not so readily cut up into 

 fine cossettes. The quantity of dry matter in the whole plant for the 2 kinds of 

 heets did not vary much but was rather in favor of the richer varieties. 



It is stated that the sugar beet retains less dry matter in the beet itself but con- 

 tains more in the leaves than the fodder beet, and as the leaves remain on the field 

 the sugar beet is considered as less exhaustive to the soil than the other. In these 

 experiments the sugar beets contain 1.96 per cent of sugar per unit of the specific 

 gravity of the juice, and the fodder beets 1.87 per cent. The varieties did not hold 

 the same rank in sugar production in all of the tests. 



Fertilizer experiments with tobacco, M. Lehmann and S. Tobata ( Landw. 

 Vera. Stat., 59 (1904), No. 5-6, pp. 443-472). — The results of an extensive series of pot 

 experiments with various fertilizer applications on different soils, conducted at the 

 Nishigahara Experiment Station of Japan, are presented and discussed. In general, 

 each pot contained from 30 to 37.5 kg. of soil, and the normal fertilizer application 

 consisted of 1.07 gm. of nitrogen, 0.80 gm. of phosphoric acid, 1.61 gm. of potash, and 

 2.68 gm. of lime. The chemical and physical analyses of the soil samples are given 

 in a table. 



A heavy fertilizer application hastened the blossoming period, increased the quan- 

 tity of leaves while it reduced the proportion of leaves to total yield, promoted the 

 growth of the roots in the same ratio as it favored the growth of the entire plant, and 

 somewhat reduced the burning quality; while a light fertilizer application lessened 

 the yield, produced a relatively large quantity of leaves at the expense of the whole 

 plant, and improved the burning quality. The moisture content of the leaves was 

 but little if at all affected by the quantity of the fertilizer. 



The plants receiving potassium nitrate were at first retarded in their growth, but 

 after topping out they grew profusely and the yield of leaves and their burn was 

 fairly good. The plants receiving rape cake grew very much like those receiving 

 potassium nitrate, but were low in burning quality. Ash from either wood or straw 

 proved to be a good fertilizer for tobacco. The water content of the leaves was 

 increased to a certain extent by the use of soy-bean cake and nitrate of soda. Fish 

 guano produced a good early growth, but after the plants were in blossom their 

 further development was slow and the yield was reduced. The use of fish guano and 

 soy-bean cake had no influence on the burning quality. 



Perchlorate was given with nitrate of soda in quantities varying from 0.10 to .'! per 



