OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 



BASED UPON A STUDY OF FIELD CONDITIONS. 



BY J. L. STONB. 



The investigations in sugar beet culture, carried on by this 

 Station in 1897 seemed to give quite decided indications that 

 there was much land in the state that could grow large crops of 

 beets and that the beets would be of a qualit}^ highly satisfactory 

 to the manufacturer. 



No data were obtained as to the cost of growing the crop. It 

 was well understood that a majority of the lands which seemed 

 suited to sugar beets were in the hands of farmers who were 

 accustomed to work three horses abreast attached to heavy 

 machinery designed to turn off a large amount of work in a short 

 time. The sugar beet is an exacting crop and requires a consid- 

 erable amount of close, careful tillage necessarily somewhat slow 

 and tedious. In fact sugar beet growing may more properly be 

 classed as gardening rather than as farming. In view of these 

 facts the question arose very distinctly. "Will these farmers 

 develop the patience and skill of the gardener quickly enough 

 to enable them to grow sugar beets at a profit before they shall 

 become discouraged on account of the failures that many of them 

 are sure to make?" 



Therefore, the work of 1898 was planned with a view, not 

 only of duplicating last seasons investigations, but of ascertain- 

 ing what it cost different growers for the labor employed in 

 securing their crops. 



In accordance with arrangements made with the State Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture at Albany, and the N. Y. State Experi- 

 ment Station at Geneva, the Cornell University Agricultural 

 Experiment Station conducted experiments with sugar beets, in 

 1898 in the following counties : Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, 

 Genesee, Livingston, Wyoming, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, 

 Allegany, Steuben, Chemung, Tompkins, Tioga and Broome. 



In these counties 1,113 ^bs. of sugar beet seed were distributed 

 to 417 farmers, and 21 one-pound lots were distributed to appli- 



