366 



Transactions. — Botany. 



I undertook the examination of the roots when they shonld be sufficiently 



grown. Mr. W. A. Graham, of Tamahere, who had taken a very great 



interest in the matter, had papers printed according to a plan drawn out by 



myself, and forwarded to those settlers who had undertaken to grow the 



roots. These papers were designed to obtain data for the future guidance 



of a company, should one be formed through any satisfactory result of 



these experiments, and were divided into columns requesting information, 



as follows : — 



Pabticulaes of Waikato Beetroots. 



From whom 



forwarded, 



and name of 



estate. 



Character of 

 soil, and 

 whether 



drained, etc. 



Whether 

 manured or 

 otherwise ; if 

 manm'ed, 

 state cha- 

 racter of 

 manure. 



Whether 

 from im- 

 ported seeds, 

 or from where 

 obtained. 



Give ap- 

 proximate 

 of weight to 

 the acre if 

 possible. 



Analytical Eesults. 



o/°of 



beet 

 suear. 



Notes. 



While the reverse of the paper was headed 



"Special Notes" [Add here anything of interest to obtain complete details.] 

 and also my address, to which the roots when required or matured were to 

 be forwarded. 



The first instalment I received was from Mr. L. O'Neill, Hamilton, and 

 came to hand on the 28th January. There were three roots, grown from 

 seed imported by Mr. Lavers, and resulted as follows : — 



No. 1. — Weight, 2 lbs. 2 ozs. ; percentage of cane-sugar 10"95 

 „ 2.— „ 1 „ 2 „ „ „ „ .10-17 



,, 3.— „ „ 12 „ „ „ „ 13-55 



On the 24th February, one month later, Mr, O'Neill again forwarded a 

 parcel of four roots from the same crop. Taking the largest of them, weigh- 

 ing 2 lbs. 2 ozs., I found the percentage of sugar to be 14-25, the three others 

 I aggregated with a like percentage of 14-25. 



Finally, on the 24th August I received a parcel of five roots from the 

 same grower, which had been removed from the ground and stored, some of 

 which are on the table. Two of these I have examined, with the following 



results : — 



No. 8. — Weight, 2 lbs. 7 ozs. ; percentage of sugar 11-40 

 „ 9.— „ 2 „ „ „ „ ,, 14-25 



The further examination of these roots I will speak of again, in relation 

 to the specific gravity of the juice. 



On the 18th of February I received three roots from Mr. Ealph, 

 Huntley, marked sugar-beet. They were of a full red- coloured skin, but I 

 have obtained no knowledge of the name of the seed or where procured. 

 Eesult of analysis : — 



No. 1. — Weight, 51bs. 5 ozs. ; percentage of sugar 4-81 

 „ 2.— „ 12 „ „ ■ „ 7-50 



,. 3.— „ 9 „ „ „ U-87 



