— 16 — 
I conclude that the effect of white alkali, to the extent that it is 
present in this soil, is, of itself, not detrimental to the sugar beet, so 
far as its sugar content is concerned. This, though quite contrar\^ 
to my preconceived notions, based upon previous but limited obser- 
vations, is in harmony with the conclusions of Hilgard and Lough- 
ridge, who conclude, from their investigations made at Chino, Califor- 
nia, that beets grown in soil carrying large amounts of alkali may be 
of good quality, both in regard to their purity and the nercentage of 
sugar contained. 
The causes of the low sugar content in the samples numbered 
three will be studied during the present season. It is evident from 
the uniformily low percentage of sugar and the low co-efficient of 
purity that there is some condition obtaining which is very harmful 
to the plant. Indeed, I am justified in making the statement, that 
in this section of the plot, the beets did not grow at all. 
The table exhibits another interesting point, i. e., the time of the 
most rapid increase of sugar in the crop, and how it may be infiu- 
enced by the weather, and the condition of the crop at the time, for 
instance, of a rainfall. From September 2 to October 13 there 
is an increase of from three to five per cent., which is unevenly dis- 
tributed throughout the six weeks, and much less evenly in my sam- 
ples than in the Farm samples. Up to October 6, no marked increase 
in the percentage of the sugar had been observable. On the con- 
trary, there had been fiuctuations depending, as already pointed out, 
upon the weather and the condition of the crop. But, from October 
6-13, there is a very marked rise in the percentage of sugar in five 
out of the six series, and a small increase in the sixth, which had 
shown an increase of about two per cent, during the preceding week. 
On October 6, the Kleinwanzlebener from the Farm plot, was the only 
variety yielding marketable beets, unless we include sample number 
two, of the Imperial. On October 13, however, there is only one sam- 
ple falling materially below the standard of 12 per cent. This 
change, which we speak of as the maturing of the beet, makes a dif- 
ference of from two to three per cent. My plot was harvested on 
October 14, and no opportunity was had to observe the deposition of 
the sugar subsequent to that time, but the Farm plots were not har- 
vested until some days later, because they gave none of the accepted 
signs of ripening. I took another sample of the Kleinwanzlebener 
variety on October 21, and found 12.30 per cent., with a purity co- 
efficient of 82. 
This plot of beets had, according to our samples, been practi- 
cally stationary in the percentage of sugar from October 6 to October 
21, but the crop was increasing, at what rate I did not attempt to de- 
termine. Owing to the failure of this crop to ripen, i. e., to show the 
usually accepted signs of ripening, a portion of it was allowed to re- 
main in the ground, and was subsequently covered with straw to 
