118 The Colorado Experiment Station 
ther so far as I now know, nor were the beets. Mr. Zitkowski was 
fully aware of the surprising nature of the results obtained, espe¬ 
cially of those obtained in the samples from Field B, taken 25 Aug., 
and had the work checked by taking a sample and determining the 
nitric nitrogen by the colorimetric method and as nitric oxid and 
obtained an agreement within one part per million, so we may feel 
confident that the figures gven are essentially correct. Adopting 
Prof. Remy’s figures and giving them in terms of tons and pounds 
per acre, we find that to produce 17.6 tons of beets together with 
their tops there would be required 182 pounds of nitrogen per acre. 
We have further seen that approximately three-fourths of this is 
appropriated by the beets in June and July or such a crop at the end 
of the season will have used during these months 138 pounds of 
nitrogen. There were 21 samples from Field B examined for nitric 
nitrogen during the month of June. If the average of the 7 samples 
taken in March and that of the 25 samples taken in June show the 
amount of nitric nitrogen in this acre-foot of soil on these respective 
dates, their difference will give us an approximate idea of the gain 
during this period, which is 49 parts per million or taking the 
weight of an acre-foot of this soil at 3J4 million pounds we have 
an actual gain of nitric nitrogen quite sufficient to furnish all of the 
nitrogen for a 17.5 ton crop of beets with their tops. In July and 
early August a very sharp decline took place, but in the latter part 
of August there was a very great increase, giving an average for the 
seven samples taken 27 Aug. of 195 p. p. m., showing the presence 
of nitric acid equivalent to 4,104 pounds of sodic nitrate in the acre- 
foot of soil sampled. 
We were so situated that we could not well analyze these beets, 
but the facts that those grown on this field carried only 12.6 percent 
sugar, which is almost as low as the lowest of our nitre beets and 
the presence of such an abundant supply of nitrates in June and 
again in August justify us in assigning to the nitre a causal relation 
to the low percentage of sugar, and also in assuming that the other 
properties of these beets were those of our nitre beets. These latter 
beets with 12.6 percent sugar are representative of a larger portion 
of the crop than the former with 16 to 17 percent, for the average 
for the whole crop will, in some years, scarcely reach 14.0 percent, 
though in 1911, an admittedly good year, the average was nearer 
14.5 percent. 
green manuring. 
We have previously given the results obtained with various 
fertilizers upon the tonnage of beets, the yield of sugar and the 
quality of beets, and have found that they do not justify us in stating 
that they can be applied with any hope of profit or material improve¬ 
ment in the quality of the crop produced. The problem is not 
