Deterioration Sugar Beets Due to Nitrates 13 
applied to alternate sections of my experimental land a dressing of 
sheep manure at the rate of sixty-four tons per acre; the results were 
a prompter and better germination, the first crop of roots was ob¬ 
jectionable in shape and only slightly increased in weight over the 
unmanured plots, the sugar content and coefficient of purity were 
both slightly depressed. We applied in this dressing nitrogen at 
the rate of 1,861 pounds per acre after allowing a loss of 25 percent, 
due to the evaporation of ammonia and ammonia salts, of phosphoric 
acid we added 837 pounds, equivalent to 1,573 pounds of calcic 
hydric phosphate and of potash (K 2 0) 4,077 pounds. The effect 
of this dressing was still marked in the color and growth of the foli¬ 
age, the next or second year after its application and the roots were 
of a better shape than they were the first year. The average sugar 
content for the season on the manured plots was a trifle low as was 
also the coefficient of purity. These may be considered as ex¬ 
treme effects, for the manure used was as unusual in quality as was 
the quantity applied per acre. Perhaps the slight differences in the 
sugar content and coefficient of purity in favor of the unmanured 
plots may have been due to the difference in the degree of maturity 
of the plants, but the experiments were continued till the end of 
October the first year and till November 10 the second year, which 
dates may be taken as the end of our growing season. The compo¬ 
sition of the ashes of these beets was determined, but it does not pre¬ 
sent any points of sufficient interest to justify discussion. The ash 
(carbonated) in the fresh Kleinwanzlebener beets from the manured 
plots equalled 1.117 percent, from the unmanured plots it equalled 
1*131 percent. The lowest percentage of carbonated ash found in 
any variety grown on unmanured ground was 0.94 percent. The 
beets grown in these experiments were not subjected to any further 
investigation than has already been indicated. It seems entirely 
superfluous to add that it would not pay anyone to apply such quan¬ 
tities of manure, at least not during the first two years after its appli¬ 
cation, but more moderate applications of well rotted farmyard 
manure to most of our lands is to be strongly advised. We have 
in the foregoing simply recorded our experience in applving this 
quantity of manure to this strongly alkalized land, the general com¬ 
position of which has been given in a preceding paragraph. 
Through the kindness of the management of the American Beet 
Sugar Company, especially through that of their former Consulting 
Agriculturist, Mr. W. K. Winterhalter, I am able to give the results 
of oivm an extended series of experiments with a variety of fer¬ 
tilizers.* The beets from some of these plots have been subjected 
*1 may at this point state that after I had become fully convinced of the 
very general distribution of nitre-areas throughout the state, particularly 
after I had found a number of occurrences of it in the extreme eastern end, as 
