34 "The: Colorado Experiment Station 
which was rich in nitre. I knew of a piece of land of this nature 
which was planted to beets, and through the kind offices of Mr. Win¬ 
terhalter we obtained the permission of the owner to apply these 
fertilizers to test plots of about one-eighth of an acre each. The 
fertilizers were applied at the following rates: Superphosphate, 
1,000 pounds per acre; Muriate of potash, 400 pounds per acre; 
Salt, sodic chlorid, 400 pounds per acre. The same quantity of 
each was used whether it was applied alone or in combination. The 
fertilizers were applied July 5 by hand and so distributed that none 
of the fertilizer was nearer than four inches to the plants, as it 
would be worked closer to them by cultivation. 
I had seen the crop of beets on this land in 1909 and it was 
poor. I expected to see a similar but poorer crop in 1910. I saw 
the held in late June and the promise was only fair. I saw it again 
in August when all my predictions of a poor crop were thoroughly 
discredited so far as the promise of a crop was concerned. I do 
not think that I have ever seen such a growth of beet leaves They 
stood easily thirty-eight inches high, and later when a very large 
amount of foliage had been killed by the leaf-spot the remaining 
foliage stood thirty inches high. It seemed ridiculous that we had 
ever entertained a thought of modifying the growth and character 
of such a crop by the addition of a thousand pounds of superphos¬ 
phate or a few hundred pounds of muriate of potash to the acre. 
The crop of roots, however, was somewhat of a disappointment and 
the quality of the beets was of all sorts, from good to very poor, 
according to the part of the field from which they were gathered. 
We have now stated the lines of experimental field work for 
1910: First to determine the effects of nitrates upon the quality of 
the beets; second, to study the effects of fertilizers on the quality of 
beets; third, to see whether the addition of superphosphate, phos¬ 
phoric acid, potash or ordinary salt would so hasten the maturity of 
the beet or otherwise modify its growth as to correct the effects of an 
excessive amount of nitre. There can be no question about the pres¬ 
ence of an excessive amount of this salt in this field, even at the 
present time. 
What I have said relative to the beets produced in the different 
districts of the Arkansas Valley applies with full force to other dis- 
tricts. 
standards adopted. 
vSo far as the ordinary analysis is concerned I do not know what 
to take as standard. We certainly cannot take German results as 
standards for our beets. For some reason our beets are richer in 
ash constituents than the German beets, and also differ in other 
respects, but these differences will be stated in another place. It 
