304 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



adapted to this crop, and by inviting the cooperation of the Experiment 

 Stations in this work, he has done much to bring this new industry into 

 prominence in all the northwestern states. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS FOR SUGAR BEETS. 



For growing most crops, the weather is even more important than the 

 soil. The conditions of climate best suited to growing the sugar beet 

 differ from that of many crops, and the weather that would seriously 

 impair the production in other crops, may be well suited to the crop 

 of beets with a large content of sugar. In Germany, it has been found 

 that a certain average temperature for the several months from May 

 to November, and a certain average rainfall during these several months, 

 are best adapted to the growing of this crop. Such a "sugar beet belt" 

 sweeps through the lower peninsula of Michigan. 



Beyond most crops, the sugar beet is less liable to be injured by the 

 variations in weather occurring in our State. It is not a tender plant 

 and will not be injured by spring frosts that would kill Indian corn. 

 It may, therefore, be safely planted in the spring many days before 

 anyone would think of planting corn, and it will grow and ripen in the 

 fall for weeks after the corn is killed by frost. It is practicable to plant 

 the beets early in the spring and get them well established, rooted, and 

 grounded in the soil during our season of abundant moisture, from 

 May to July. When thus established in a well prepared soil, properly 

 thinned from eight to ten inches in the row, kept free from robber weeds, 

 and given proper cultivation to secure the mulch of a thin layer of 

 porous soil, the beets can withstand "the August drought," and thrive 

 and grow when the corn leaves roll for want of rain, and they will con- 

 tinue to grow and sweeten under the Indian summer sun long after 

 potatoes and vines have shriveled under the frosts. 



The beet can thrive in the hot and dry weather of mid-summer because 

 of its root distribution in porous soils, the tap root passing down into 

 the subsoil and drawing its supply of water and plant food from these 

 deep recesses. If the plant is nourished by the surface soil till it can 

 tap the subsoil it may thrive in weather that would burn up the surface 

 feeding plants. 



Our German consul, Julius Muth, under date of June 3, 1897, writes 

 from the heart of the beet sugar district: "A rich, deep soil, with a 

 porous, well drained subsoil, should be selected. If the climatic con- 

 ditions are such that the beets are assured of abundant moisture for the 

 first, three months, then a limited amount of moisture and dry, sunny 

 weather, for the last thirty days, such lands are well adapted for the 

 cultivation of the sugar beets. It is of great importance that the last 

 thirty days be dry and sunny; wet weather at this period will start a 

 second growth in the beets at the expense of the saccharine contents." — 

 Consular Reports, Aug., 1897. 



In a few localities in this State the trial with sugar beets is reported 

 as a failure on account of dry weather, "Not one seed in a thousand grew 

 at all." If the climatic conditions in any locality are too precarious, it 

 would be folly to attempt the cultivation of sugar beets. 



