Deterioration Sugar Beets Due to Nitrates 145 
0f Th hC at the J tim , e 0f defoliati °n and at the time of 
harvest. 1 he defoliation evidently caused a stoppage in the devel- 
Wt e, it n,v. tle , beet; 11 dl f " 0t depress the Phosphoric acid in the 
beet it did not increase the total nitrogen in the beet, but it did 
arrest apparently almost completely, the elimination or transforma¬ 
tion ol the nitric nitrogen. The extent of the defoliation was ex¬ 
treme almost complete and undoubtedly arrested some functions of 
tie plant completely, while others were disturbed to a less extent 
U e see for lnsta nce that the beets attained to a fair size, 791 and 701 
fach case" 1 * 111111116 ' ' ^ th ‘ S ’ S the avera ? e we ’ght of 50 beets in 
It was very advisable, in fact quite necessary, that the experi¬ 
ments of 1911 should be made before any interpretation of the re- 
!ffpp t ° f 9 J° S \° Ud be undertaken - for however pronounced the 
effects of the mtiates may have been there would be misgivings 
even in our own minds, as to the part Cercospora betkola, the leaf- 
spot. might have played and what the nitrates had really effected 
1 he experiments of 1911 enable us to state, as we have done, pretty 
u y, w.iai the nitrates did even when applied at a period when the 
l ate of appropriation of nitrogen by the beet had, according to Prof 
Kemy, already abated very materially and was becoming still 
slouei. _ Unfortunately our check field practically failed us in 1910 
nevei .heiess, not to such an evtent as to be wholly useless, though its 
value is very much less than we had hoped it would be. 
le application of 250 pounds of nitrate per acre, 1 April, just 
ie oie planting the seed, resulted in an increase in the yield of roots 
and sugar, and the general quality of the beets was very good crop 
16.85 tons, sugar in beets 16.85 percent. The phosphoric add in 
™? ee . V Va , S ? W an , the alkaHs reIativel - v hi ff h - The total nitrogen 
ter th, at co C y ° W ; the ra , t10 of P roteld nitrogen to the total was bet- 
tci than 50 percent; in the juice, according to Ruempler, it was 51 
peicent, the nitric nitrogen was low for the Arkansas Valiev beets 
bw fit P f erCent: the 3 njU 7 0U . s ash and nitrogen per 100 sugar also 
on the fomier 2 1267, the latter 0.36424. The beets from this 
held vvere among the best analyzed in 1910 and were really very 
b ood beets We have elsewhere stated that these results are not in 
accoid with others obtained with smaller applications of nitrate, but 
the soil was different. 
With the application of 500 pounds per acre the field results 
were good, crop 15.52 tons per acre, sugar in beets 15.8 percent but 
ie effects upon the composition of the beet were easily recognized 
t,le analytical results by an increase of the total ash, a very mod- 
erate amount of phosphoric acid, high alkalis, particularly soda, a 
tr tl ln 7 e ? se 1,1 t,le total nitrogen, a lower ratio for the proteid 
to the total nitrogen, evident in the juice as well as the beet, a very 
