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sifted, this committee trusts that all farmers and bodies who are 

 carrying on experiments should communicate with the secretary. 



2) That it is desirable to have experiments on the growth of 

 sugar beet on areas of not less than 20 acres. 



3) That the Development Commissioners be requested to make 

 a grant to enable such experiments on the larger scale to be 

 carried out. 



4) That a sugar beet committee, which should consider not 

 only the agricultural, but also the industrial and financial aspect of 

 the growth of sugar beet and its utilisation, ought to be formed 

 indipendently of the Chamber of Agriculture. 



Growth of sugar beet. (Midland Agric. and Dairy Coll., Repts. 

 on Expts., 1907-08). The Journal of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture. (London), July 1909, Vol. XVI, no. 4, p. 312. 



" Trials were carried out in Lincolnshire in 1906 and 1907 to 

 test the suitability of the district for sugar beet growing. In 1907 

 the land was prepared in the same way as for mangolds and dressed 

 with i cwt. sulphate of ammonia, 3 cwt. superphosphate, */ cwt. 

 sulphate of potash. The seed was sown on the flat, this having 

 been found in 1906 preferable to growing on the ridge. The rows 

 were drilled 12, 15, 18, and 21 inches apart. 



Part of the crops was lifted and weighed in October and part 

 in November, in order to find whether the sugar content of the 

 roots increased when approaching maturity. The average yields 

 were: with 12 in. drills, lifted in October, 15 tons 18 3 / 4 cwt.; lifted 

 in November, 17 tons i 8 /4 cwt.; with 15 in. drills, October 14 tons 

 J 3 J /4 cwt.; November 14 tons 13 cwt.; with 18 in. and 21 in. drills 

 the yields were smaller. The trials, therefore, are regarded as 

 showing that it is most profitable to grow sugar beets in drills as 

 near together as is consistent with convenient cultivation. 



On analysis of samples of the roots it was found that in a damp 

 and cold season, like 1907, a considerable advantage is to be gained 

 by delaying the lifting of the roots as long as possible, for in every 

 case the roots lifted in November contained a higher percentage 

 of sugar than those lifted in October. The percentage of sugar 

 was somewhat less with the drills 12 in. apart than with the wider 

 rows, but owing to the larger crop the total yield of sugar per 

 acre was considerably greater". 



