— 31 — 
lost just one-twentieth of their weight the same as in the 
fall. They were then covered with three thicknesses of 
sacking, but continued to dry out and in five days had lost 
nearly one-fifth of their weight. At the end of fifteen days 
they had lost just the same as the beets did in the fall in 
sixteen days. The beets tested originally 14.4 per cent 
sugar; fifteen days afterward they tested 21.6 per cent sugar. 
Calculations of weight show that of the original 14.4 per 
cent sugar, 13.4 per cent remained, or a loss by fermentation 
of about one-fourteenth of the sugar. x 
EFFECT OF FREEZING ON BEETS. 
When the beet fields on the college farm were harvested, 
several small patches were left and allowed to freeze. After 
the tops had frozen and thawed several times the whole 
was covered with a thick layer of straw. Samples of these 
beets were analyzed at various times up to the middle of 
January 1898. • From near the edge of the straw some beets 
were dug that had been partially frozen. 
The first beet analyzed had been only slightly frozen. 
It was cut into thirds by weight and each third analyzed. 
Per cent, sugar. 
Per cent, purity. 
Upper third 
... 12.9 
78.7 
Middle third 
, . . . 12.0 
91. 1 
Bottom third 
, . . . 12.0 
81.4 
The second beet had been decidedly frozen. 
Per cent, sugar. 
Per cent, purity. 
Upper third, all froxen 
. . . 10.9 
73-2 
Middle third, partly frozen. 
... 1 1.2 
70.3 
Bottom third, not frozen . . . 
. . . 14.3 
88.3 
Here the effect of the freezing seems to have been to 
drive the sugar into the lower part of the beet. 
One of the patches of beets covered by straw tested the 
first of November when covered, 12.3 per cent, sugar and 77 
per cent, purity. On January 3, the same patch tested 13 per 
cent, sugar and 86 per cent, purity. This was a patch of large 
beets and and to the eye they had increased in weight dur- 
ing their two months under the straw. 
COLORADO SOILS. 
The relation between the growth of the sugar beet and 
the character of the soil in which it grows has been studied 
very carefully in Europe. Almost nothing of this kind has 
been done in the United States. The results of the work in 
1897 seem to indicate that it is not safe to apply the rules 
