New York Agricultural Expekiment Station. 235 



specific difference does not appear to be rational. It does not 

 appear in llie experiments here recorded that the yield of beets 

 was greatly larger with 40,000 to 80,000 lbs. of stable manure 

 per acre than with 1000 lbs. of commercial fertilizer. It seems 

 extremely probable that if a fresh application of stable manure 

 ever causes the ranker vegetative growth, this result must be 

 attributed either to the larger quantities of fertilizing ingredi- 

 ents w^hich are usually supplied in comparison with chemical 

 manures, or to the modifying influences upon the soil of its 

 organic matter as affecting texture and water holding power. 

 Granting that the excessive amounts of nitrogen and other ele- 

 ments of plant food contained in the usual application of stable 

 manure are sometimes the cause of too rank growth, then the 

 use of less manure will modify this effect which is undesirable 

 with some plants. In case the better texture and greater water 

 holding power that the manure induces, and which are so desir- 

 able conditions to secure for most soils, are the explanation of 

 the great vigor of the plants, it would not seem wise to with- 

 hold the manure, but to control the character of the growth by 

 regulating the quantity of manure and number of plants on a 

 given space and by other means. 



The evidence which this bulletin presents shows clearly that 

 under the conditions involved, stable manure was freely applied 

 to the beet land in the spring just before planting the seed 

 without injury to the quality of the beets. 



If this proves to be true in general, no time limitations are 

 to be placed on the use of such manure, and sugar beet produc- 

 tion will not demand of the farmer an annual expenditure of 

 cash for commercial fertilizers because they are a necessity in 

 this line of farming. 



