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No. 33] 313 
of Bassano beet that had produced a crop of seed, and one of the 
same variety at the end of the first year’sgrowth. The former con- 
tained five and three-tenths per cent of sugar ; the latter very nearly 
seven per cent, showing a difference in sugar content of about one 
and seven-tenths per cent. 
MuUSsKMELON. 
September 17 we examined the roots of a plant of the Oblong 
Netted Muskmelon. The plant had not made a very vigorous 
growth. The roots were for the most part very shallow in the soil, 
though we traced a single one to the depth of sixteen inches. The 
main roots extended horizontally, and at a depth of three to five 
inches below the surface. We traced one of these a distance of three 
feet, which was as far as the longest stem reached. Short fibrous 
roots are, however, quite numerous at a depth of eight or ten inches. 
It thus appears that the muskmelon is a shallow rooting plant, 
but that its roots draw nourishment from a large area. This would 
seem to show that the method, so often practiced, of applying all the 
manure intended for this crop immediately beneath the hill, is not 
. founded upon good judgment. Active manure in the hill may be 
very valuable as a stimulant to the young plants, but as the chief 
feeding ground of the roots is not beneath the hill, it would seem 
that a portion at least of the fertilizer should be applied for the 
benefit of those far reaching roots that develop at the time the fruit 
is forming and maturing. 
CABBAGE. 
The root system of the cabbage is of the same kind as that of the 
cauliflower which we described in our last report, except that in the 
Sample examined it was less extensive. On September 15 we 
washed out the rvots of a finely headed plant of Very Early Etam- 
pes cabbage. The tap root extended to the depth of twenty inches, 
and the horizontal roots a distanve on either side of about eighteen 
inches. The fibrous roots lie chiefly in the upper layers of the soul, 
although they occasionally appeared at a considerable depth. Some 
of these rose upward apparently to the surface of the soil. It is 
entirely possible that had we chosen a plant of one of the larger 
growing late varieties, we should have found the root system more — 
_ extensive. 
Kout Rast. 
The root system of the Kohl Rabi-as indicated by a plant of the 
Karly Purple Vienna variety, examined September 15, is very similar 
in kind, and in extent to that of the. cauliflower. We traced the 
tap root to a depth of more than two feet, following it through four- 
teen inches of a very compact clay. Owing to the delicacy of the 
root we were unable to reach the end. The horizontal roots ex- 
[Assem. Doc. No. 33.] 40) 
