This paper covers certain physiological phases of a series of investigations on the production of sugar beets in Iowa, and is intended to aid in the interpretation of pathological and cultural studies. In a plant whose commercial importance depends upon its sugar content, problems of photosynthesis, translocation, transformation, and storage obviously are important. The relation of the four principal carbohydrates of the sugar beet, sucrose, fructose, glucose, and dextrin to these processes has been the object of this investigation. Literature review