Sugar Beets. 
39 
the form of nitrates), incline me to the view that the organic matter, 
including the nitrogen, played an important part in our particular 
case. 
SOAKING EXPERIMENTS. 
§ 70. It is a universally acknowledged fact that the maturing 
of the beet is accompanied by an increase in the coefficient of 
purity ; that is, that the sugar in the juice of ripe beets constitutes a 
larger percentage of the total solids than it does in the juice of green 
beets. The percentage of sugar in the ripe beet is also higher than 
in the same beet when it is green. The increase in the ratio of the 
sugar to the solids not sugar, might be due to an increase in the 
amount of sugar, without any change in the amount of the other 
solids, in which case there would be an increase in the weight of 
the beets, corresponding to the increase in the amount of sugar and 
of the dry matter in the beet. There is, however, a disappearance 
of solids not sugar at this period, which indicates that the per¬ 
centage of total solids in the beet is not maintained at an 
approximately constant figure by a proportional increase of crop 
and sugar content, but a proportional decrease of the one and 
increase of the other. 
§ 71. The following experiments were made in an endeavor to 
obtain more definite information on this subject, i. e., whether this 
change of material inter sugar may continue after the beet has been 
pulled; for if we can prove an increase in the amount of sugar, 
before and after soaking, the probability of such a change in the 
living beet is strengthened. In 1897 we found that there was a 
period during which sugar was rapidly formed, but that sugar was 
present early in the history of the crop, and that there was a slow 
increase, after the growing season for the crop had passed, even 
extending up to the early part of January, the beets having been 
left in the ground and covered with straw. 
In 1898 a different experiment was performed. Four varieties 
of beets were chosen, Vilmorin Improved, White Imperial, White 
French and Kleinwanzlebener. Sixty-eight beets of the first and 
sixty of each of the last three varieties were taken, and after washing 
were paired, according to size, and one of each pair taken for imme¬ 
diate analysis, while the other was taken for soaking. The halves of the 
samples obtained in this manner varied but little from one another, 
the maximum difference being six pounds on a sample weighing 
132 pounds. One half was anatyzed immediately, the other half 
was packed in galvanized iron tubs, with fine sand, in such manner 
that the beets did not touch one another; water was added till the 
tubs were full, and pieces of ice were placed on top of them. The 
samples were soaked in this manner for seven days. The tempera¬ 
ture of the water in the interior of the sand ranged from 41° to 48° 
F. throughout this time. The results were as follows: 
