— 47 — 
that the sugar is a little higher in the lower two thirds than in the 
upper third, i. e., first third contained 13.08 per cent, sugar, the sec- 
ond 13.22 per cent., and the third 13.19 per cent, sugar. According 
to this, the percentage of both the ash and sugar increase in the 
lower part of the beet. If, however, we take the percentage of ash 
in the fresh beet, which seems to me the proper basis, the matter 
stands differently in respect to the ash, i. e., it is greater in the first 
third, and diminishes in the lower portions of the beet, for we have 
them in the thirds, beginning at the top, 1.15, 1.09, 1.05 per cent. 
In either case the difference is much less than I had hoped and ex- 
pected to find. A concrete statement will possibly make the small- 
ness of this difference plainer to some readers. It means, that, if we 
had a crop of sugar beets, of 15 tons to the acre, and divided every 
beet into three equal parts, by weight, there would be, in the five tons 
of upper thirds, ten pounds more of ash than there would be in the 
five tons of lower thirds. 
The percentage of ash given for the dry matter is misleading 
in this, that it gives no statement of the fact that the percentage of 
dry matter is greater in the first third of the beet. If we take Jbhis 
into account, we find, on calculating the ash, for the assumed crop 
of 15 tons to the acre, that there is practically no difference. We 
get 116.22 pounds in the first third, and 115.77 pounds for the third, 
or lower third, of our crop. Both methods of calculation lead to 
the same conclusion, i. e.. that the ash in the beet root is quite evenly 
distributed throughout the beet, with a slight excess in the upper 
portion of the root, but the percentage of ash is greater in the dry 
matter of the lower third. 
THE COMPOSITION OF THE ASH. 
It was my expectation, when this work was planned, to find in 
the composition of the ashes, particularly of the leaves, a means of 
removing large enough quantities of soda salts to ameliorate the al- 
kaline condition of the soils, as we find it in Colorado. 
The ashes were prepared with care, but it seems to be a difficult 
task to prepare them so that no organic matter shall be left. The 
sample was, in every case, first charred, the soluble ash thoroughly 
washed out, and the carbon then burned out of the residue. The 
ash of the whole sample was mixed with ammonic carbonate, and 
heated to 200° C., for two hours. 
The portion of ash, insoluble in water, is very variable, espe- 
cially in the beets. In the leaves it is higher in early September 
than subsequently, and always lower by 2 or more per cent, of the 
total ash, than in the roots. 
In the following table is given the composition of the ashes of 
samples taken at three different periods of development, which may 
be best judged of by the dates on which the samples were taken. 
With the composition of the ash we complete the data concerning 
