394 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



SlUiAR UKKI-S IN iKim. 



The n'sulls of <;r()\viii^- snj^ar beets in 1801 and ISIIT. and also in ISOS,. 

 wtn-c so salisfiulory, both in I he (iiialilv of tlic beets and llie yield pet 

 acre, that fanners looked for e<]nally j^ood results in 1800, but the 

 weather for the <;ro\vin^- season in ISOO was so unfavorable that in numy 

 localities the ci-oji was vei-y unsatisfactory. This was caused by the 

 severe drouth during- the jjirowinj;- season — the most sin'ere for :iC 

 years (18(>4-1!»(I0) — even worse than that of 1871, the year when Chicago 

 was burned. The rainfall for the three summer months was 3.90 

 inches, where the normal rainfall is 0.50 inches. If we add to the actual 

 rainfall, the rain of September, 1800 (lM4 inches), we obtain a total 

 (»f 0.10 inches, or one-half the normal rainfall for the four months. 

 Tlie rainfall for these months in 1871 was 8.24 inches, or two inches 

 more than in 1800. 



In localities where the drouth was very severe the sniallness of the 

 yield from this new crop, from which so much had been expected, was 

 very discouraf^inpj to the farmers, and in some of their meetinjjs resolu- 

 tions were adopted not to ])lant su^ar beets. Other crops had suffered 

 even more severelv, notablv wheat; but in the case of so well known a 

 crop as wheat the loss might be chari>ed to an inscrutable providence. 

 Some farmers seemed to feel that, while the old, old charter of agri- 

 culture given to Noah, "While the earth remaineth, seed time and har- 

 vest shall not cease," would hold good for an old crop, like wheat, 

 it could not be relied on for a new and untried crop like sugar beets. 

 Yet a careful study of the nature and habits of a new crop and its 

 adaptedness to our soil and climate, and to the methods of farming in 

 our State, is a wise precaution. ■ 



Let me call your attention to the physical basis of sugar beet raising 

 in our State. 



THE SOIL OF LOWER MICHKiAN. 



The i)liysical basis for growing a beet crop is the (juality and com- 

 position of the soil. In the lower peninsula the soil is technically 

 known as the drift. The intermingling of many kinds of soil and the 

 porous character of the deposit fit the soil for crops of the tuberous 

 class. The lands adjacent to the great lakes and the soutlu^rn half of 

 the peninsula are adapted to the raising of all crops and fruits suited 

 to our climate, and especially tubers. 



Many years ago an invitation was extended to leading farmers in 

 different counties of Michigan to send specimens for analysis of the 

 leading soils which would fairly repres(mt the agricultural soils of the 

 county. 



Twenty-eight soils taken from counties that fairly represent the sugar 

 beet districts are here selected to show the chemical (-(unposition as 

 specially related to the demands of this (ro]), giving the average per- 

 centage of lime, potash, phosphoric acid, and "the physical condition 

 which enables the soil to take up and hold water by capillary attrac- 

 tion, and thus withstand drought, or "water-capacity of the soil," are 

 here i)resented: 



