Deterioration Sugar Beets Due to Nitrates 177 
on these plots without the addition of nitre as compared with those 
produced by the same land in 1910, when the crop was 7 tons per 
acre against a minimum of 20.8 tons in 1911. The maximum sugar 
content was 13.3 in 1910 ag-ainst 16.7 percent for 1911. 
Our observations on the effects of leaf-spot in 1910 could not 
be interpreted as showing any definite effect of this disease upon 
the crop or quality of the beets. Many of the fields that were 
severely attacked showed large yields and high percentages of sugar, 
while other fields in the same districts which were much less"severely 
attacked showed a great variety of results. Assuming that the 
effect of the leaf-spot upon the yield and quality of the beets is due 
wholly to the destruction of the foliage we tried to imitate this ac¬ 
tion by defoliating the beets rather late in the season to determine 
the kind of changes that it would produce in the quality of the beets. 
There is a fair quantity of data on the general effects of defoliation 
scattered through the literature of the sugar beet, but nothing upon 
its effects upon the composition and quality of the beet. We defoli¬ 
ated some beets on 6 Sept., a date at which the beets were already 
well developed. All the leaves were removed because we have seen 
fields of beets so badly attacked by the leaf-spot that scarcely any 
leaves at all w r ere left, and though it was late in the season, our beets 
were green and growing very rapidly. We had no leaves in this 
case to examine so our investigations were confined to the roots. 
The defoliated beets continued to increase in size, attaining weights 
of 701 and 590 grams for the trimmed beets. The beets that de¬ 
veloped normally were larger by 46 and 190 grams. The percent¬ 
age of sugar in the defoliated beets was quite low, 14.2 and 13.2 
percent. Sugar in the variety with 13.2 percent remain stationary 
from the time of defoliation till harvest, the other variety increased 
from it. 9 to 14.2 after defoliation. The total nitrogen in the beets 
was materially lowered, normally developed beets contained 0.14882 
and 0.14223, the defoliated ones 0.12408 and 0.11286 percent. 
Neither the amount of pure ash nor that of the phosphoric acid was 
affected; the injurious ash per 100 sugar was increased in one case 
but not in the other; the injurious nitrogen per 100 sugar was re¬ 
duced in both cases, while the total nitrogen in the juice was also 
reduced, the albumin nitrogen was reduced to a still greater extent, 
so that the ratio of albumin to total nitrogen was depressed three 
percent in one and six percent in the other. The nitric nitrogen in 
the normally developed beets fell to 0.0082 and 0.00746 percent but 
in the defoliated beets it remained nearly the same as at the time of 
defoliation, being at the end of the season, 0.01367 and 0.01584 per¬ 
cent, whereas at the time of defoliation the respective percentages 
were: 0.01925 and 0.01670. The beets grown on the plots that 
had received applications of nitrates had on 1 Sept. 0.02320 and 
