24 
Bulletin 63 . 
larger beets, or at least as high as in the smaller ones. The con¬ 
clusion drawn from another experiment is that too great a width 
between the rows tends to have the same effect as permitting beets 
to grow singly. 
In 1898 it was observed that certain over-irrigated spots had 
. Analysis showed that these beets were richer in 
sugar than the beets growing adjacent to them, but which had not 
been over-irrigated, by upwards of three per cent., and the coefficient 
of purity was much better, ten per cent. This clue was followed in 
1899 with excellent results. The average percentage of sugar for 
beets grown by the Chemical Department in 1898 was 13.65. The 
average for all samples analyzed that season, 1898, was 13.62 per 
cent. The average for the season of 1899 was 14.69 per cent.* The 
effect upon the tonnage of the crop was not determined, but it was 
not materially affected in any observed case. 
This is unlike the effects of a late and inopportune rainfall. 
The bad effects of this are probably due to the condition of the crop 
at the time of the rainfall, and not particularly to the amount of 
water that falls. 
Cultivation and manuring increased the amount of phosphoric 
acid taken up, but did not increase the percentage of ash in the 
fresh beet. The greatest effect seems to have been on the 
percentage of chlorin taken up, it having been lowered. 
The percentages of phosphoric acid, lime and magnesia in the 
ashes of the samples of 1897 and 1898 were very nearly the same, 
but in 1899 the percentages of the two latter substances increased 
by one per cent. each. 
The changes produced tend to bring the composition of the 
ashes more into harmony with the results of other observers, and 
indicate the tendency of cultivation and continued cropping to 
ameliorate the soil conditions and modify their effects upon the 
mineral matters taken up by the plants. 
The effect of the manure was of two characters, mechanical 
and as a fertilizer. 
The nitric acid in the ground waters was more variable and 
higher after than before the application of the manure. 
The total solids were also higher during the season immediately 
following its application. 
Heavy rains or an irrigation increase the amount of chlorin in 
* The average of all varieties, manured and not manured. The average for 
the not manured sections was 15.34 per cent. 
turned yellow 
