40 The Colorado Experiment Station 
nitrate, Chile saltpetre, in the upper six inches of the soil, and in 
the soil of the turning row there is five times as much, 900 pounds. 
We sometimes find less nitric acid in the middle between the rows 
than between the beets in the rows, though we usually find more. 
The presence of larger quantities of nitric acid in the fallow ground 
of the turning row is a fact which one would expect as the sun¬ 
shine, air and soil conditions are favorable for its production. The 
same is true for even small spots within the beet field which for 
some reason or other may chance to be fallow. The percentages 
of nitric nitrogen found in the beet plots at this station may be 
used to show this; in a fallow, i. e., a bare spot 0.002800 per cent; 
between the beets in the row next to it 0.00040 per cent. Again in 
the beet field among the beets 0.0001; in an oat field 0.0001 ; in a 
fallow strip 0.0035; ‘ m another fallow spot in the field, 0.0004 per 
cent. 
The significance of the analytical data may be presented by the 
following averages representing the College farm at Fort Collins: 
Per Cent of Nitric Nitrogen 
71 Samples 2 and 3 inches deep, Oct. 4-18, 1909.0.000626 
28 Samples 3 to 6 inches inclusive, Oct. 18, 1909 .0.000515 
25 Samples 7 to 12 inches inclusive, Oct. 18, 1909 .0.000329 
6 Samples 2 1-2 feet deep, Oct. 18, 1909 .-.0.000499 
The following samples represent other farms, sixty-four in 
number: 
Per Cent of Nitric Nitrogen 
46 Samples 6 inches deep, Oct. 1-15, 1909 .0.002005 
54 Samples 6 inches deep, Jan. 2 6-31, 1910 .0.001271 
The College land contained in October less than one-third as 
much nitric nitrogen as the other 46 farms sampled at the same 
time, and about one-half as much as 18 other farms sampled in 
January, 1910. This is very striking as the samples from the Col¬ 
lege farm were taken to a maximum depth of three inches while the 
others were all taken to a depth of six inches. 
That there has been a decided deterioration in the quality of 
our beets within the past six years cannot ,1 think, be doubted. 
Many causes may have attributed to this, but the discussion of these 
at this time would be out of place. Suffice it, for the present pur¬ 
pose, to state, that there are many fields of good beets every year, 
but that in spite of this the average quality has been deteriorating. 
The past few seasons seem to have been especially favorable for 
the production of nitrates in the soil, and I am of the opinion that 
there is a direct and intimate relation between these facts. 
The amount of nitric acid present in the sugar beet is usually 
assumed to be small, more in the French beet than in the German, 
but the amount is always small. Further the nitrates are usually 
considered as molasses formers. We have examined our beets 
