-—36 — 
their feeding produces the most favorable results. The primary ob- 
ject of the analyses on page 37 was to discover the effect of the differ- 
ent soils upon the feeding value, and, at the same time, to study the 
differences due to varieties, if such should be discovered. The sam- 
ples are parts of the larger samples taken on October 13, and which 
were used for the other data given throughout this bulletin. All 
data given for beets, taken October 13, are for the same general sam- 
ple, and are comparable. The numbers, 1, 2, 3, have the same sig- 
nificance that they have in the table showing the amount of sugar, 
from week to week. 1, is good soil ; 2, is good soil, quite rich in al- 
kali ; 3, is soil in bad tilth and rich in alkali, but no more so than 
2. The analyses, given in the table, were made in duplicate, but 
averages are given to save space ; the limits of variation allowed 
were 0.02 per cent, for nitrogen, 0.2 for the other determinations, 
except for crude fibre, for which 0.4 was admitted. 
Analyses Nos. 1, 2, and 3, are of samples grown on excellent 
ground, and free from alkali. The analyses are intended as stand- 
ards of comparison by which to measure the effect of our alkali. 
Analyses Nos. 19 and 20, are of leaves from the same beets, and are 
taken as standards of comparison for the leaves. 
An examination of the table giving the percentage of sugar 
present in the beets, from the different sections of the plot, will show 
more clearly than the few percentages given, that the samples 
from sections Nos. 1 and 2, were quite as rich in sugar as those taken 
from the Farm plots, which we used as standards. But the samples 
from section No. 3 almost always showed a lower percentage of sugar. 
As stated elsewhere, section No. 2, of the plot, shows, upon analysis, 
more alkali per acre than the other sections, but its sugar content 
is uniformly high ; therefore, I have left it as an open question 
whether the depression of the sugar percentage in the samples from 
section No. 3 was due to the alkali, or to general conditions with 
which the presence of the alkali has but little or nothing to do. 
This uncertainty is not present in these results. The beets grown on 
the alkalized soil contain more ash and more crude portein, and less 
nitrogen free extract. They are better beets for feeding, but not so 
good for sugar making. 
The difference in the leaves is confined to a small excess in the 
percentage of ash in the samples from the alkali soil. 
Analysis No. 10 is of a sample received from New Mexico. The 
soil on which it was grown is a fine prairie loam, and the sugar 
content, when received by us, was 17.25 per cent. Owing to the 
excellent character of the soil, and its richness in sugar, I used it as 
a futher standard, and it agrees, within quite narrow limits, with the 
samples from the Farm plots. 
