Methods of Growing Sugar-Beets.— It would be quite difficult to give general directions and rules for growing sugar-beets applicable to all localities and conditions. Often expert sugar-beet growers, at public meetings and in the agricultural press, give minute directions covering all the details of this intricate process. Others, each well versed in the process of growing sugar-beets, get into arg.uments and disputes as to the right method. In such cases each may be correct in a measure. The oc casion for such disagreements lies in the fact that each person has in mind the right method for a particular locality or set of conditions. A careful study of the different sections of the United States where sugar-beets are grown will lead to the conclusion that there is no single road to success in growing sugar-beets. Every locality has settled conditions which will matenally modify any set of methods that might apply to some other one. There are some settled rules, of course, but it is a fact that the various agricultural districts of this country will have to work out each for itself the right method. The person who argues that the ground must be plowed in the fall in order to receive the benefit of winter frosts is not offering any argutnent to the Pacific coast, for instancet where many beets are grown, and he who insists that the ground should be rolled in all instances after planting will hazard the crop if his directions are followed in many parts of Nebraslca and other sections where the soil is sandy and there are strong winds. In such cases a smooth surface offers an excellent op portunity for the wind to carry along the sharp grains of sand, cutting off the plants and de stroying the crop.
There can be no general fixed rules applying to the kinds and application of fertilizers. Gen eral principles are all right when accompanied with the underlying reasons, but they must always be modified to meet local conditions.
With the development of the industry in all the sections which have the necessary con ditions, and the acquirement of ample ex perience both by the farmers in the production of beets and by manufacturers in the making of sugar, there will come many improvements, and eventually a cheapening of production, a result of great importance to all concerned in the success of the industry, because eventually the beet-sugar industry in the United States will have to meet a sharper competition with foreign sugar producers.
There are some things settled, however, about growing sugar-beets. It will generally be conceded that the ground should be plowed deep and manured. Before the seed is planted, the ground must be thoroughly pulverized by harrowing and by rolling, even if the surface has to be afterward roughened. Advantage must be taken of the general and prevalent rain conditions. The ground must be moist enough to germinate the seed, either by rainfall or irrigation. Rainfall is best when it can be obtained. In some localities either is used, ac cording to circumstances. Seeds are planted at depths of from half an inch to two inches, according to the prevailing conditions in the particular locality. The beets must be planted
near enough together to produce a beet of a certain size. This spacing depends, again, upon the locality and the nature and fertility of the soil. The size and quality of the beet depend materially on the right kind of spacing. The beets must be thoroughly cultivated, hoed and hand-weeded, because cultivation tends to con serve the moisture of the soil, and clean fields permit favorable action of sun and air. This close cultivation should be kept up until the beet tops thoroughly shade the ground and reach a size when it would be injurious to operate among them further with a plow and hoe. The beets should be harvested as soon as possible after they are ripe, because then they contain the most sugar and the highest purity. It is evident that the entire crop of beets in the neighborhood of a factory cannot be harvested at once. In many localities some will have to be siloed temporarily in pits in the fields. Har vesting-time will depend a great deal upon cir cumstances connected with the operation of the factory. The sooner the beet is harvested after it is ripe the better, because further rain fall may start a new growth, producing new lateral roots and new leaves, thus greatly reducing the sugar content and purity of the beets.
Benefits to the Farmer.— No statement of facts with reference to any new crop would be complete or would indicate the advisability of its introduction unless it showed the benefits to be derived. Of course, profit and loss in any enterprise is the first consideration.
It has already been stated that it costs about $30 per acre to produce sugar-beets and to market the crop where rain conditions prevail. This is without taking into consideration the rent of the land, but it includes the farmer's time and everything else that enters into the cost of production. The average United States yield during the five-year period 1911-15 was 10.17 tons per acre and the price paid farmers per ton in 1915 was $5.67, thus giving a gross average cash return of $57.66 per acre. To this amount should be added the feeding value of the leaves and tops, usually estimated at $3 per acre, also the value of the increased yield of other crops for three to five years after fol lowing a crop of beets. This increased yield amounts to 25 to 60 per cent and is the great est of all incentives to stimulate beet cul ture. It must be kept in mind that these are averages of gross and net proceeds. It is never very encouraging to consult the average of agricultural crop statistics; indeed, it is often said that °the average crop does not If one should take the figures of the average crop of corn in Iowa, for instance, or the average crop of wheat in Minnesota or Kansas, and compute the proceeds at the average market price, and deduct therefrom the cost of production, the results would show a very small remuneration or an actual loss, quite discouraging to one who has not investigated this subject.