The Question Bos. 329 



profit. All the work was done with a horse, the rows of beets 

 being twenty inches apart and the plants thinned to eight inches 

 in the row. Two years ago Mr. Rogers grew twenty acres at a 

 total cost of 127.02 per acre. Last year he grew thirty-seven 

 acres at a cost of $17.27 for labor and interest, to which should 

 be added |5 for fertilizer and $1.75 for seed per acre. 



" But," said Mr. Rogers, " we want good land, well fertilized, 

 and the beet must receive good care. ,It will not pay to expend 

 money and fertilizers on poor land. It does not cost any more 

 to grow a crop of 14 tons or more per acre than it does to grow 

 10 tons. Therefore, have the ground rich, plowed deeply and well 

 pulverized, so that the seed-bed will be fine. This enables the 

 seed to germinate. If the ground is inclined to bake before the 

 seed germinates, go over it with a wire-tooth horse-rake. It is 

 better than is the weeder, because the teeth draw more flatly over 

 the ground." 



What formula of commercial fertilizer do you recommend? 



Answer. — One having 4 per cent, of nitrogen derived from 

 nitrate of soda or dried blood, 8 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and 

 12 per cent, of potash, using either the muriate or the sulphate. 

 When the land is good, well fertilized and the crop well cared for, 

 there can De a profit of $15 to $25 per acre realized. 



Mr. Rogers, to show how the growing of the beet has increased, 

 said that Smith and Powell of Syracuse, grew, two years ago, 

 15 acres, and last year 130 acres, and they have contracted to 

 grow 300 acres this year. They have grown cabbage and nearly 

 all other truck crops, but they had told him that they had never 

 grown a crop so profitable as sugar beets. 



THE SHEEP-FOLD. 



What about sheep as moneymaliers on a farm. Best breeds and man- 

 agement? 



Dr. Smead. — There are a great many things about sheep which 

 the best breeders do not yet know. To breed sheep successfully 

 one must know the sheep and its habits and how to breed and 

 feed it. Then, too, one must select the breed he likes best. Hav- 

 ing selected it, feed and care for it as it is cared for and fed in its 

 native home. Nearly all our sheep breeds come from England. 



