119 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The Department sugar beet experiment station, Sclmyler, Colfax County, Nebr., id 

 located near the junction of the narrow Shell Creek Valley with the broad plain 

 through which the Platte River runs. The station is located 6 miles in a direct line 

 north of the Platte River, and under the south slope of the terminating line of hills 

 which separates the .Shell Creek and Platte valleys. The situation is thus protected 

 against the action of the north, northwest, and northeast winds, and has an ample 

 exposure to the south, west, and east. 



The station farm consists of thirty 1-acre plats and 1 acre of roads and borders. 



Two tracts of land were offered lor the use of the experimental station, including 

 the one selected and a tract of equal si/.e having a north exposure. In favor of the 

 latter tract was the cii'cuntstance that it had been under cultivation for three years; 

 while the selected tract at the beginning of this year was practically virgin prairie. 

 Although the condition of the soil in the Held exposed to the north ap'peared to bo 

 in a much more favorable state than the soil of the selected field foi 1 the immedi- 

 ate culture of beets, the equal richness aiUl physical properties of the soils of thd 

 two fields and the climatic advantages of the, field with the south exposure caused 

 the selection of the latter as the location of the actual experimental station. How- 

 ever, as the new and crude state of the soil of the station field gave some doubt coii- 

 cerning the results of the first year's work, it was decided to grow beets in both the 

 stated fields and provide against a failure in case the station field was too crude for 

 immediate beet culture. To guard against confusion, the two fields will be desig- 

 nated: Field A, station field with south exposure; Field B, field with north ex- 

 posure. 



SOIL. 



The soil of the station farm appears to be uniform with the prairie soil of the Platte 

 Valley. It is a dark loam to a depth of 11 feet, resting upon a mixture \\ feet thick 

 of clay and sand, and gradually going down to a pure sand at a depth of 5 feet, which 

 meets the normal water level at a distance from the surface of 84 feet. It is a loose, 

 easy-working soil, highly sensitive to variations in the temperature of the air, but 

 very resistant of the action of the extremes of moisture and drought. 



The chemical analyses of the soils gave the following results. No. 1 indicates the 

 surface layer, 6 inches, and No. 2 the second 6 inches of the soils : 



CULTURAL SEASON. 



The work of preparatory cultivation began April 9, in Field B. 

 The late date at which it was decided to establish the station where it is now 

 located prevented the adoption of the most advisable plan of cultivation, and the 



