INTERPRETING ANALYTICAL RESULTS. 7 



represent the field at that particular stage of growth. As no attention 

 was paid to the method of sampling in over 90 per cent of the cases 

 here reported, the results, as a basis for judging of the suitability 

 for a given area for beet cultivation, are apt to be misleading. 



Another factor which may affect the amount of sugar found is the 

 condition of the beets when received for analysis. The healthy beet 

 when taken from the ground is crisp, but on exposure to air and heat 

 it soon loses moisture and becomes wilted; the next step is rotting. 

 In losing water, the percentage of sugar present will, of course, be 

 increased, but this increase is seldom in the same ratio as the loss in 

 weight. Experiments conducted in 189 1 1 at the Schuyler station in 

 Nebraska show what may happen under these conditions. Beets were 

 dug on October 3, carefully cleaned, and the leafy tops removed. 

 They were then placed in the sun and reweighed at the end of each 

 24 hours. The daily temperature was 68 F. and the mean maximum 

 90 F. A heavy wind was blowing most of the time. Beginning 

 with 152 pounds of beets, the loss in weight after one day was 13.2 

 per cent, after two days 23.8 per cent, after three days 32.4 per cent, 

 and after four days 37.5 per cent. A sample drawn from the fresh 

 beets showed 15.1 per cent of sugar, while at the end of the fourth 

 day a sample drawn showed 17.1 per cent, an increase of only 2 per 

 cent of sugar. Calculating the original sugar content of 15.1 per 

 cent for the loss in weight, the beets should contain at the end of the 

 four days 24.2 per cent, showing a loss of 7.1 per cent in sugar in the 

 beet. This is a remarkable loss, but the experiment was carried on 

 under severe weather conditions, great heat and wind. 



A second trial was made in which clean beets were divided into 

 three portions of 25 pounds each. One portion was left in the field, 

 another was kept in the air but under a shed where the direct rays 

 of the sun did not come in contact with the beets, while the third 

 portion was analyzed. At the end of three days there was a 20 per 

 cent loss in weight for the shed beets and a 22 per cent decrease for 

 the field beets. The sugar content of the fresh beets was 16.2 per 

 cent, of the shed beets 19.6 per cent, and of the field beets 18.3 per 

 cent. Figuring the loss in weight as moisture, the sugar percentage 

 of the shed beets should be 20.2 per cent at the end of the three days 

 and of the field beets 20.7 per cent. The sugar losses here noted are 

 not so large as in the previous experiment, being only 0.6 per cent 

 when beets were kept away from the direct rays of the sun, but 2.4 

 per cent when they were placed in the sun. 



Other experiments that have been tried indicate that after harvest- 

 ing sun and heat work great detriment to the sugar content. An 

 interesting experiment, showing that under certain conditions the 



i U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Chemistry, Bui. 36, p. 62. 



