SUMMARY. 
§ 81. The effect of the alkali is noticeable, but to a less extent 
than in 1897, and the area in which its effects appear are 
more restricted. 
The application of straw, as well as of manure, improved the 
condition of the ground and perceptibly mitigated the effects of 
the alkali. 
The application of manure improved the stand of beets, but 
did not prevent a failure to germinate in some spots. 
The amount of water received by the crop of 1898, rain and 
irrigation water together, was about eight inches. 
The water plane varied from three to six feet below the surface 
in different portions of the patch at various times during the season. 
The force of capillarity caused water to rise 45 inches as a 
maximum, the surface of the soil being protected from wind and 
sun. 
The plot receives subirrigation, though there is a drain and an 
open ditch, supposed to intercept this water. 
The cultivation in 1897 differed in one respect from that given 
in 1898 and 1899. In 1897 the crop received two irrigations and 
more cultivations than in the latter years. The soil was kept more 
mellow. In 1899 it was purposely firmed about the beets in 
September, and no effort was made to mellow it after this. The 
percentage of sugar in 1898 and 1899 was higher than in 1897. 
This was in part caused by the condition of the soil produced in 
1899 by intentional over-irrigation. 
The effects of the manure upon the crop was to produce ill 
shaped, rooty beets, also to slightly lower the percentage of sugar 
and the coefficient of purity. Its effect on the shape of the beets 
was far more serious than that on the percentage of sugar and 
coefficient of purity. 
The conclusion reached in 1897, relative to the effect of the 
alkalized condition of the soil upon the percentage of sugar in the 
