120 



work which should have "been done in the fall was not entered upon until late in 

 the spring. 



April 9, 4 acres in Field B, which in the past year had been planted with corn, 

 were plowed lightly and harrowed, and the cornstalks and roots, the latter being 

 turned out by the plow, were gathered up and hauled off. Rains prevented any 

 further operations until April 22, when plowing and subsoiling began. The 

 ground, which had been freed from all cornstalks and roots, and which laid quite 

 level, was plowed to a depth of 9 inches with an ordinary plow and the subsoiler 

 followed to a further depth of 6 inches, so that the soil was broken up to a depth 

 of 15 inches. The width of furrow taken by the plow was not more than 10 inches, 

 in order to be sure that the lower soil was perfectly stirred by the subsoiler, the 

 share of which was 9 inches broad. The laud plowed each day was harrowed 

 and dragged in the evening, to prevent it drying in a lumpy state and to lessen the 

 loss of moisture. 



April 26, the temperature of the soil in Field B was still too low for planting the 

 seed, and it was left a few days, and 4 acres selected in Field A were plowed and 

 subsoiled and treated further in the same way as had been done in Field B. 



April 29, the seed bed of Field B, which had been quickly prepared by harrowing 

 and dragging twice, and finally rolling after a third harrowing, had a temperature 

 of 51 F. and the seed was put in. 



Although the ground had plowed well, and each day's way was got down mod- 

 erately fine with the harrow and drag, the condition of the seed bed was not satis- 

 factory. There were no large clods, but instead of a thoroughly pulverized soil, such 

 as can only be produced by the action of frost, the surface was made up of small 

 clots or particles, rather than a mass of fine, moist mold. 



The seeds were planted with a horse drill, taking one row. In the first place the 

 ground was marked off in rows with a common wooden marker, making five lines at 

 a time. The seed drill followed in each of the lines or rows left by the marker. The 

 drill was set to deposit the seed 1 inches deep. The seed was planted at the extreme 

 depth on account of the extremely drying weather which had set in, with a prospect 

 of lasting for some time. After drilling the seed in rows at a distance of 17 inches 

 apart the ground was again firmly rolled, in order to induce the rising of the moisture 

 of the soil to the seed bed. The surface of the soil had become decidedly dry, and 

 there was not moisture enough in the seed bed to produce immediate germination. 



Six varieties of seed were planted, including 



(1) Dippe Bros, Klein wanzlebener. 



(2) Vilniorin White Improved. 



(3) Desprez & fils and Bulteau Desprez. 



(4) Lemaire pere et soeur. 



(5) Ferd. Knauer. 



(6) Kleinwanzlebener (FJite). 



The average amount of seed planted per acre was 17.6 pounds, the drill, with the 

 same sized distributing wheel, delivering 18 pounds of the Kleiuwauzlebener and 

 Elite varieties, 17.2 pounds of the Vilmoriu and Desprez, and 17.5 pounds of the Le- 

 maire and Knauer varieties. 



On May 5 and 6 the ground in Field A was prepared in the same way as in Field B, 

 and on those days the seed was put in. The seed bed in Field A was in exactly the 

 same state as in Field B neither rough nor in that state of moist and pulverized 

 mold which is essentially desirable. The seed was planted 1 inches deep, and in 

 rows 18 inches apart. The temperature of the seed bed was 49.1 F. on the first day 

 of planting May 5. The amount of seed planted per acre was 16.5 pounds. The six 

 varieties already specified were planted in Field A. 



The special purposes of the planting of the large plats of the varieties of beets 

 stated were, in the first place, to observe the results obtained from the soils and 

 climate of the situation under the application of the best method of beet culture ; 



