139 



loosened in its connection with the soil, is due wholly to a loss of weight in the beet 

 by evaporation, and a proportional relative increase in the per cent of solids in the 

 same. If a beet is disturbed sufficiently to break the taproot and the hundreds of 

 small fibrous rootlets, even if it is not lifted out of the soil, the leaves rapidly wilt 

 and in time the flesh of the beet becomes soft. The simple explanation is that the 

 evaporation of water from the surface of the beet, which proceeds without inter- 

 mission during the whole period of growth, continues after the breaking of the con- 

 nection of the beet with the soil, but the connection with the soil being broken, the 

 beet is no longer able to take up fresh water from the earth to replace the amount 

 lost by evaporation. Consequently the beet loses weight, and an apparent increase 

 of sucrose takes place, the latter being solely due to the decrease of water in the 

 organism and a corresponding increase of solid matters. 



There is another phase to the question under consideration. Does a loss of sucrose, 

 through decomposition, take place in the beet after it is taken oujt of the soil and 

 stored either under the surface of the ground in pits or silos or in any other way ? 

 Actual experiment could be the only means of deriving an answer to the proposition. 



At the time that the beets of each of the varieties were gotten up for analysis 

 and for the selection of mother beets for propagation use, a certain portion of the 

 latter class were placed in small pits in the ground about 9 inches under the surface 

 and well protected with moist earth. A part of the beets was placed in the pits with 

 the tops on, and the other part the tops were cut off 1 inch from the neck before they 

 were stored. The beets were kept in the ground in those pits from October 15-19 to 

 November 6, when they were taken out and put in the permanent silos for the winter. 

 At the same time a further number of beets was left in the ground till a later date 

 and then gotten up and analyzed fresh in order to compare with the beets placed in 

 the pits. The results were as follows : 



Field B. 



Field A. 



In comparing the results of the "fresh" and "stored" beets it must be remembered 

 that the latter had lost some water by evaporation, so that the sucrose should have 

 been higher in the j uices of the stored beets than in the j uices of the fresh beets. It is 

 thus seen that the actual decrease and loss of sugar in the stored beets was greater 

 than is indicated in the table given. 



An experiment was made with individual beets, also with the purpose of observing 

 if there were a decrease in sucrose contained in the beets after removal of the latter 

 from the soil. The experiment was made as follows: 



Twenty beets were taken fresh from the soil, the tops removed, washed, and dried. 

 Each beet was cut into equal halves and the halves marked No. 1 and No. 2. No. 1 



