158 Report oF THE BoTANIST OF THE 
and thriftiest at the time of the injury were the ones most severely 
affected; and, further, that during two months of second growth 
the surviving plants increased the size of their roots but little. 
That the discoloration of the root is a physiological effect (the 
result of the death of the foliage) rather than the work of any 
parasitic organism is shown by the results of the following inocula- 
tion experiment: After the dirt around five healthy sugar beets 
had been removed there was cut from each a pyramidal cavity 
one-fourth inch square at the surface and one-half inch deep. 
These cavities were then filled with similarly shaped plugs of 
the discolored beet root, the whole covered with grafting wax 
and the dirt replaced. Five check beets were treated in the same 
manner except that the cavities were filled with plugs of healthy 
beet. This was done August 30. On October 18 the beets were 
pulled and cut open. The inoculated beets showed no discolora- 
tion of tissue except a slight blackening around the wounds, 
which was no greater than in the check roots. 
Some farmers thought that the beet disease was much worse - 
on land where cabbages were affected by black rot in the season 
of 1898, but our own observations show that there is not good 
foundation for such belief. It can be stated positively that there 
is no connection between the leaf scorch of beets and the black 
rot of cabbage. 
The amount of damage done to the beets was considerable. 
Although the majority of the plants recovered, the roots were 
smaller than they otherwise would have been and their sugar con- 
tent was lower. Analyses made by Mr. J. A. LeClere, Assistant 
Chemist, gave the following results: (1) Roots of plants killed 
outright analyzed 5.9 per ct. of sugar (in the juice) with a 
coefficient of purity of 61.6; (2) Roots of plants which had 
made a second growth after having all their foliage killed 
analyzed 10.7 per ct. of sugar, coefficient of purity, 73.6; (3) 
Roots of uninjured plants growing within a few feet of the di- 
seased plants analyzed 15.2 per ct. of sugar, coefficient of purity, 
80.3. i 
