, 2 The Colorado Experiment Station 
these things the iniquity of our ignorance. We are likewise in_dan- 
o-er of going to the other extreme in placing our hopes and confidence 
In the°virtues of fertilizers. It is too late in the d «v e opment 
agriculture to question their benefits but it is no sin even in the pres 
ence of the learned to assert that there are limitations to their bene - 
cent effects and that there are yet unsolved questions pertaining o 
their use and action. This is the frame of mind in which I approach 
the questions presented in this bulletin free enough I hope fro 
n eiu ice to state the whole case, and frank enough to be incon- 
S or even contradictory if the facts require it I have no desire 
to run counter to established teachings, but simply to learn the les¬ 
sons that are presented by our practice, and only wish that I were 
'“VS » “laS”,. Colorado, owing ,o its »ze and posi- 
tion presents a variety of conditions which many persons fail to 
nroperlv consider. I have had no occasion to study the problems 
oUhe beet crop in the valleys of the Poudre. the Platte, the Uncom- 
nahm-e or the Grand rivers, had I had and were I presenting the 
results of such a study they would in all probability be stated some- 
what differently from the present ones. 
This Station has published four Bulletins 155, 160,, 17b and 
170 on the Fixation of Nitrogen m some Colorado Soils. T 
occurrence of very large amounts of nitrates m some of our soils 
fully demonstrated, also that fixation takes place rapidly in them 
under favorable conditions and still further that nitrification takes 
place rapidly enough to account for very considerable quantities of 
made » the fact, leading direcli, .0 .>« 
study namely, the following questions which were propounded, why 
do not our beks ripen and keep better ? Why have they fallen off 
in sugar content despite improvement m seed ? Why do they p 
duce so much molasses? . . 
These questions represent facts serious enough in their in- 
portance to justify any effort to answer them and if we learn only a 
part of the truth we will have made some progress. The work done 
fn the preparation of Bulletin i S5 Prepared me to believe it to be 
possible that nitrates might actually De developed on so large; ascale 
as to account for the lengthened vegetative period of the beet its 
green condition at the time of harvesting might easily account for 
its ready deterioration, and to this immaturity of the beet with the 
presence of nitrates might fairly be attributed the high percentage 
of molasses produced. I tested samples of Steffens waste water, 
molasses and beets for nitric acid and found it present m such quan¬ 
tities'as to be easily detected. This seemed to me more suggestive 
that not only the molassegenic action of the nitrates but the imma ur 
