its 



It is tiie purpose of tlie Department to continue the experimental 

 work with beets, should Congress grant money for that purpose, during 

 the coming season on the following general principles : 



The entire number of plats (thirty) in the experimental field will be 1 

 so divide'd as to bring each plat iiito bee'ts once in foiir years; The re- 

 maining j)lats will be planted in ordinary crops, so as to secure a trial 

 of the principle of rotation. The beginning of this has already been in- 

 augurated and a number of the plats has been plan ted in fall wheat and 

 rye, while an additional number will be planted in maize, oats, spring' 

 wheat^ and other crops during the coming spring. All of the plats have 

 been properly fall-plowed and prepared for the spring planting, and 

 those plats which are to be planted in beets have been thoroughly sub- 

 soiled. At the proper time it is proposed to open the silos and examine 

 the mothers which they contain, first, in regard to the way in which 

 they have been preserved; second, in regard to the loss of weight 

 of the test samples of mothers, and, third, to subject each of the beets 

 so preserved to analysis, rejecting all which fall below a given standard 

 and planting the remainder for the production of seed of a high grade. 



It is seen from the above outline of the work that it has been or- 

 ganized on the best approved principles for the illustration of the most 

 scientific methods of producing beets. Not only will the work be valu- 

 able for the data which we obtain, but especially so for serving as a 

 sample of what such work should be, which may be a guide not only to 

 the farmers of the country who propose to enter beet culture, but also 

 to those who may undertake the production of sugar-beet seed of high 

 grade to supply the planters of the country. It is perfectly well under- 

 stood that the farmers themselves will not be able to grow high-grade 

 beet seed, on account of the great cost of analytical work which it 

 involves, and if we produce our own seed in this country it will have 

 to be done in the way indicated in the outline above given. 



REPORT OF ASSISTANT IN CHARGE. 



The further details of the experimental work are found in the report 

 of the assistant in charge, Mr. Walter Maxwell, which follows : 



DIVISION OP CHEMISTRY, 

 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



Washington, D. C., February 26, 1S92. 



SIR : I beg to submit to you a detailed report of the work accomplished by tht 



sugar-beet experiment station of the Department of Agriculture at Schuyler, Nebr., 



in the year 1891. 



Very respectfully, 



WALTER MAXWELL, 



Assistant in cliarye, 

 Prof. H. W. WILEY, 



Director. 



