New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 197 



Special Suggestions.— (1) Time of application. Stable-manure 

 and other similar materials are best applied to the crop preceding 

 the beet crop. Readily available forms of plant-food can be 

 applied to the soil when the crop is put in or just before. 



(2) Precautions. Excessive application of stable-manure or 

 other nitrogenous materials should be avoided, in order to secure 

 beets of good quality. Well-rotted is preferable to fresh stable- 

 manure. 



(3) Rotation. Beets will, as a rule, give best results in respect 

 to sugar, when grown in rotation with other crops. It is 

 wise not to grow more than two crops in succession on the same 

 soil. A plan of rotation suggested by Dr. Wiley is wheat, beets 

 and clover, one crop of which is cut for hay and the second crop 

 turned under, this to be followed by potatoes, wheat and beets. 

 Beets do best after some cereal. 



5. Soil. 

 As a rule, good sugar beets can be grown on any soil which 

 will produce a satisfactory crop of wheat, corn or potatoes. 

 Fairly level soil, well drained, is essential for best results. 



6. Meth( 3s of Cultivation. 



Of the conditions under the farmer's control, requisite to suc- 

 cess in growing sugar beets of high quality, there is none of 

 greater impoT-tance than the methods employed in preparing and 

 cultivating the soil. Plowing should be done in the late autumn 

 to the depth of not less than 9 inches. A subsoiler should follow 

 the plow, loosening the soil 6 or 7 inches deeper, thus giving a 

 total depth of 15 inches or more. In the spring only the surface 

 needs preparation, and this should be put in very fine tilth imme- 

 diately before planting. The thinning should be done promptly 

 when four leaves show. 



During 6 to 8 weeks of the growing season, the soil should 

 be cultivated once a week at least and in dry seasons more fre- 

 quently. There is probably none of our common crops which is 

 more exacting than the sugar beet in its demands for careful, 

 prompt and regular attention, if satisfactory results are to be 

 realized. 



