ing and advancement of this early -period of growth we require. Nitrate of 

 not the form of phosphoric acid with difficulty soluble, such as Soda f 

 we have it in basic slag or in the precipitated phosphates or 

 even in bone meal, but exclusively the form which is soluble in 

 water. Nineteen pounds of phosphoric acid soluble in 

 water are indispensably necessary to enable the beets to 

 thrive, and in particular to secure a healthy and rapid first 

 period of growth. Besides this, an additional quantity may 

 be given in a less readily soluble form. Such a supply of 

 phosphoric acid is an indispensable necessity, especially 

 where the spring is cold and the soil at the time when the 

 beets are singled is still but slightly warmed, as may well 

 be the case under your climatic conditions. 



But, gentlemen, on the other hand, TT ,, nu 



L r L L -j i_ Use of Phos- 



tne quantity or phosphoric acid to be sup- , . A . , 



,. 7 i i f- i- i f phone Acid. 



plied has also its limits. formerly the 



sugar factories demanded quite excessive quantities of 

 phosphoric acid, with the object of obtaining beets rich in 

 sugar. They required fifty to ninety pounds and upward 

 to the acre, and they believed that not only was this neces- 

 sary in order to obtain heavy crops of beet, but also that 

 the quantity of phosphoric acid stood in direct relation to 

 the formation of sugar in the beet. This idea has been set 

 aside by Hellriegel, who has proved that no connection 

 exists between the phosphoric acid and the formation of 

 sugar in the beet. On a soil poor in phosphoric acid you 

 will indeed grow fewer beets than on one rich in phosphoric 

 acid, for phosphoric acid is an indispensable food-stuff of 

 the beet ; but the crop of beet, although smaller in quantity, 

 is relatively as rich in sugar as that of which the quantity is 

 greater. Nor have I ever heard that a crop of beets which 

 turned out to be a small one, and turned out to be a small 

 one in consequence of a deficiency of phosphoric acid in the 

 soil, was particularly poor in sugar. On the contrary, if we 

 obtain a smaller crop, we usually get beets tolerably rich in 

 sugar ; and in the case of heavy yields there is a greater 

 risk of a low percentage of sugar than in the case of smaller 

 crops. Therefore, in the present state of agriculture, it is 

 no longer thought necessary, as formerly was generally the 

 case, to squander phosphoric acid in this manner ; it is 

 proper and customary to give to the beet no more than is 

 required to render its first growth rapid and healthy, and 



