39-4 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



The (incstion llicii arises wlial sort of feiiili/.er sliall Ik' eiiijiloyed to 

 iiiainlaiii llie |»i'oj)er sujtjdy of i»lant food. It is foiiml l>,v the ex])eri- 

 oiu'v of practical beet jiroweis tliat tlie natural inaiiiues ])ro(hi(od 

 ui»oii Ihc farm may be applied to the beet crop at a serious disadvan- 

 laue. It is found that it is particularly desirable to apply the coarse 

 manure sonu- iinu> previous to t'he time of planting the suj^ar beet 

 seed. We find, however, that the season i)revious. even as late as the 

 aulumn previous, is a much better time than in the sjtring prior to 

 seedinu. In ai)])iyin^- the farm manures to the beet crop, the one pro- 

 caution should be taken, that is not to ai)i)ly it in smh a form, or at 

 such a time, as to reiiuire the beets to <>row in the coarse material. 

 The beets will surely ^low misshapen and furnish a very low per cent of 

 suuar. If the stable manure is thorou<ihly rotted, and can be well 

 incor])orated in the soil, it may be ap]>lied quite near the time of seed- 

 injj;. but if it is coarse it must be applied long enough beforehand to 

 become thoroughly rotted and mixed with the soil. 



There ai*e some localities where it has become necessary to dei)end 

 n])on commerical fertilizers for keeping up the soil fertility. Just 

 what fertilizeis to apply will depend largely upon the character and 

 condition of the soil, but generally speaking a fertilizer rich in potash 

 and phosphoric acid will produce a higher tonnage and usually beets 

 of better quality. The most satisfactory a]»plication made at the Mich- 

 igan f]xperiment Station consisted in unleached wood ashes applied 

 at the rate of one ton per acre, sown broadcast on the plowed ground 

 about two weeks before seeding, and thoroughly worked into the soil 

 with a spring tooth harrow. In addition to the wood ashes which 

 supplied a liberal amount of potash, and a moderate amount of phos- 

 Ithoric acid, llO jiounds of nitrate of soda was applied per acre at the 

 time of sowing the seed. Of the commercial fertilizers ottered in the 

 market those which are branded root and vegetable fertilizers will 

 probably come nearer the rcMiuirements for the sugar beet crop than 

 those for grains. One should look for a comparatively high per cent 

 of phosphoric acid and potash and for the nitrogen which need not be 

 so large in per cent, but it should be in the form of nitric acid, that 

 it may be available to the plant during the early stages of its growth. 



SEEDING. 



The operation of sowing the beet seed is one of the simplest and 

 most inexpensive of am- connected with growing the crop. The spe- 

 cial beet drill is to be preferred above all other devices that have been 

 used foi' this ])UT])ose. The ordinary gaiden drill may be used and 

 has given good results. The most of the grain drills used for seeding 

 on the farm have special devices for sowing sugar beet seed, but as 

 yet we have seen none that are thoroughly satisfactory. In sowing 

 single rows with the hand drill it is ditticult to space them at a dis- 

 tance apart accurate enough to admit of cultivation with a two-row 

 cultivator. AMiatever style of drill is used, one thing should be borne in 

 mind, and that is to drill at one passing the same number of rows that 

 will be cultivated at a single passing, or that will be taken up entirely 

 by two or more bouts across the field. That is to say, a three-row 

 drill would not be advisable to use where a two-row cultivator were to 



