LEAVES OF THE SUGAK BEET. 



93 



As a general thing it is admitted that the weight of 

 the leaves in a given crop is about equal to one-half 

 that of the roots, and one-fourth to one-third for beets 

 containing 8 to 9 per cent, of sugar. 



Corenwinder was the first to prove that the amount 

 of cindei's in the leaves in general augmented as thej 

 grew older, and that the nitric elements diminished. 

 We analyzed leaves of the beet at different ages, and 

 found in all cases this principle to hold good. 



1st. Leaves, verj' young 

 2d. " 2 mouths old 

 3d. '• fully grown 



Weight. 



7 grs. troy 

 165 " 

 375 " 



Cinders 

 pet cent. 



20.6 

 28.2 

 31.0 



Nitric 

 element. 



25.2 

 18.0 

 15.3 



In other words, small young leaves contain more nitric 

 elements and less cinders than the large ones.^ This 

 being the fact, we may conclude that beets rich in 

 sugar will be possessed of leaves giving by analysis a 



' Several experiments made b)- J. Isodore Pierre have proven that small 

 leaves contain less water than large ones. 



