— 26 — 
The tables, quoted both by Ware and McMurtrie, are given pri- 
marily to show that beets with heavy tops are richer in sugar than 
beets with lighter tops, and give us the ratio of the tops to the beets. 
It is for this purpose that I introduce them here : 
Vabiety. 
Per Cent. 
Sugar 
in Juice. 
Weight of 
Roots, 
in Grams. 
Weight 
of 
Tops. 
Ratio 
Tops to 
Beets. 
Per Cent, 
of 
the Beet. 
Pink Top, 0 . 
9.90 
1393.0 
281.0 
1:4.95 
20.0 
Pink Top, Enterre 
10.18 
984.0 
375.0 
1:2.63 
38.0 
Improved, 1,093 
14.42 
863.0 
531.0 
1:1.62 
61.0 
Improved, 927 
14.78 
787.0 
531.0 
1:1.48 
67.5 
Other tables given, show that the weight of the leaves varies 
from 25 to 63 per cent, of the weight of the beets, and stress is laid 
upon the fact, that the sugar content increases as the ratio of the 
weight of the leaves to that of the roots increases. 
The only other statement that I have been able to find, touch- 
ing the relative weights of the tops and the roots, is given in Cornell 
University Station Bulletin 143, where it is shown to be, in one 
experiment, about 1: 5, or, more exactly, 20.29 per cent., and in an- 
other, 1: 3, or 35 per cent. These statements are not at all applica- 
ble to the beets grown in Colorado. The figures given on a previ- 
ous page, under the caption of “ The Yield Obtained,” show that but 
one out of the five varieties yield 2 tons of beets to 1 ton of tops ; in 
other words, that only one variety approached the rule, that the 
weight of the tops equals about one half the weight of the roots. 
The figures given on the preceding page is for beets and tops 
trimmed as they would be for siloing, and not for factory use ; if 
they had been, the Lane’s Imperial would have given a much 
smaller weight of the beets, owing to their green necks, caused by 
their growing well out of the ground. 
It is a patent fact, that the ratio of the weight of the leaves to 
that of the roots is less, at the time of maturity, than before this 
period, and that a study of this relation, prior to a reasonable de- 
velopment of the roots, would have no general interest. I began 
the study of this, and all the subsequent subjects, at the same time 
that I began to determine the sugar content of the crop, i. e., Sep- 
tember 2. The beets had already attained a fair size, the average 
weight of 93 beets, pulled on this date, being a trifle over 15 ounces, 
and the largest beets were always avoided. The sugar in the sam- 
ples taken, on the respective dates, is given in the table under the 
caption, “ The Sugar in the Crop.” 
