4 
BULLETIN 115. 
Crop History of Field F Used 1903 .—The soil during 1901 and 
1902 was very lumpy and especially in 1901 in poor physical condi¬ 
tion because being plowed when very wet in 1900. The crops begin¬ 
ning with 1900 have been as follows: 
1900— Plats of grain, sugar beets and corn. 
1901— Sugar beets, 10 tons per acre. 
1902— Grains 1413 pounds per acre, as follows, wheat 756 pounds, 
oats 271, barley 256, rye 62 and emmer 68 pounds. 
1903— Sugar beets, 23.5 tons per acre, with manure and fertili¬ 
zer. 
1904— Sugar beets 17.6 tons per acre. 
1905— Sugar beets 16.0 tons per acre. . . 
The chemical analysis of the soil and subsoil from this field in 
1903 and 1904, is given in Bulletins 95 and 96, U. S. Bureau Chemistry. 
The field was plowed the preceding fall (1902), disc harrowed the 
next spring on April 17. The fertilizer was applied on April 18, on all 
plats except 1, 2 and 3, by distribution with a drill on top of the soil 
and thorough harrowing with a drag harrow the long way of the plats. 
The cow manure on Plats 1 , 2 and 3 was applied April 11-17, plowed 
under, harrowed on the 18th; the nitrate applied to Plat 3, when the 
manure had been plowed under, and harrowed into the soil together 
with the balance of the fertilizers on April 18. The seed was planted in 
rows twenty inches apart at the rate of fifteen pounds per acre on 
April 21; Plats 9 and 10 on April 27. The seed used was the variety 
known as Kleinwanzlebener grown in the State of Washington. 
The cow manure used was without straw or litter, almost fresh, 
being only three and a half months old. It was the intention to use 
well rotted sheep manure, but none was available at the time. The 
bone meal was odorless, probably from steamed bones, or from 
“prairie bones.” The two complete fertilizers consisting of nitrogen 
estimated as ammonia, 3.5—4.5%; available phosphoric acid 8-10%; 
potash 6 - 8 %, were made up especially for this experiment by a fertil¬ 
izer firm. 
The beets were hoed and thinned from May 30 to June 4. On 
June 6-10 a heavy rain set in amounting to two inches in depth. 
Only two irrigations were given, on July 3 and 23. On August 10, 
Plat 10 , with the excessive quantity of manure had the rankest growth 
of leaves. The three manured plats were more thrifty than those fer¬ 
tilized. Plat 5, bone meal and nitrate, show better growth than No. 
4, with nitrate alone. Plat 8 , with Basic slag appears better than 
the bone meal plat. Plat 10 , complete fertilizer, looks better than 
the adjacent plat with less nitrogen from nitrates. 
On November 7 th the samples for analyses were taken. The har¬ 
vesting and weighing began on November 14 with Plat No. 1 , and was 
not finished until November 25. Plats 1 to 6 , inclusive, were harvested 
November 14-16, although Plat 6 was not weighed until November 
24. Plats 7-10, inclusive, were harvested and weighed November 
23-25. Where the piles of beets could not be hauled and weighed at 
once they were covered with a layer of beet leaves and soil in order to 
