New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 583 



gained in the season of 1897 certainly indicates that our soils and 

 climate are favorable to the growth of beets which are satisfac- 

 tory in quantity and quality. Of course figures in great variety 

 have been reported from a large number of experimental plats, 

 varying from very low yields to those which are suspiciously 

 high. The experience on the Station farm this year in the culture 

 of two acres of beets indicates that by proper methods the best 

 farmers may possibly produce in favorable seasons from 15 to 13 

 tons of high grade beets. The average crop will doubtless be 

 considerably below this. It must be confessed, however, that 

 one season's experience is not enough upon which to base final 

 conclusions. 



It is unquestionably true that the cultivated lands of central 

 and western New York are capable of a high rate of production 

 of almost anything which is adapted to the conditions there pre- 

 vailing. These lands, managed by intelligent farmers, may com- 

 pete with any in the United States, and this is entirely favorable 

 to success in growing sugar beets, after it is established that the 

 conditions are suitable to this crop. 



The capacity of the American farmer is cited as an evidence of 

 his probable success in whatever he undertakes. This is, cer- 

 tainly, a strong argument. In intelligence, industry and capacity 

 to master the details of new methods, even expert methods, he is 

 not excelled by the farmers of any civilized country, ^'^e may 

 expect, moreover, that the inventive genius of American manu- 

 facturers will meet the farmer half way in providing the imple- 

 ments necessary to cheap culture. 



The enthusiastic advocate of this new enterprise claims the 

 certainty of an unlimited market for the sugar. It is true that 

 we now buy from eighty to a hundred million dollars' worth of 

 beet sugar from France, Germany and other countries, and so 

 long as a protective tariff places the foreign producer at a disad- 

 vantage, we may reasonably expect to be able to sell at fair prices 

 all the sugar we can produce for some time to come. Regarded 

 with reference to the immediate future, this argument appears to 

 have weight. The doubt here lies with the continuation of exist- 

 ing conditions. 



