Deterioration Sugar Beets Due to Nitrates 127 
acid 0.12, total nitrogen 0.147 and humus 0.426 percent. The ratio 
of nitric nitrogen to the total will be given in a subsequent para¬ 
graph. Composite samples of soil and subsoil were taken from 
these plots. Four samples each of soil and subsoil were united to 
form composite samples. The results were as follows : 
ANALYSES OP SOIL ON WHICH EXPERIMENTS OP 1911 WERE MADE. 
CXXIV 
cxxv 
Soil 
Subsoil 
Insoluble. 
63.489 
63.547 
Silicic acid (soluble in sodium carbonate) 
9.866 
8.557 
Sulfuric acid. 
0.094 
0.069 
Chlorin. 
0.025 
0.035 
Phosphoric acid. 
0.175 
0.160 
Carbonic acid. 
2.976 
4.942 
Potassic oxid . 
0.715 
0.573 
Sodic oxid. 
0.408 
0.316 
Calcic oxid . 
4.725 
7.310 
Magnesic oxid. 
1.258 
1.376 
Ferric oxid. 
5.663 
5.337 
Aluminie oxid. 
3.563 
2.738 
Manganic oxid. 
0.175 
0.160 
Water at 100° C. 
2.816 
2.111 
Ignition . 
3.918 
2.143 
Sum. 
99.866 
99.375 
Oxygen equivalent to chlorin. 
.005 
.008 
Total. 
99.861 
99.367 
Total nitrogen. 
0.1426 
0.0627 
Humus . 
0.6750 
0.2620 
Water soluble. 
0.3875 
0.3450 
The change in color, showing the line of division between the 
■soil and subsoil, varies from eight to twelve inches in depth. This 
land seems never to have received deep cultivation which is very 
-desirable in this case. The analyses show what is clearly recog¬ 
nizable by the appearance of the soil itself in section, i. e., that the 
.•subsoil is richer in calcic salts, carbonate and sulfate, than the sur¬ 
face soil. There is no reason whatever why this subsoil should not 
produce quite as well as the surface soil if once loosened up. It is 
well supplied with plant food, nitrogen perhaps excepted, which 
might be considered too low for a productive soil, but it is, under our 
conditions probably fully sufficient. The supply of lime and mag¬ 
nesia is very abundant and their ratio, from four to six of lime to 
one of magnesia, will have some interest for us. 
The analyses of 1911 samples follow in the order of their tak¬ 
ing. The number of beets taken in each sample was eighteen. We 
find it very difficult to thoroughly mix the pulp from so large a sam¬ 
ple without expressing some of the juice. In a few of the last sets 
of samples we took as many as fifty beets in a sample but I doubt 
the advisability of taking so large a number in one sample. 
