SPECIAL CROPS 137 



Kind of Soil Required. Tobacco requires fertile, 

 well-drained soil, rich in humus. Not every soil will 

 grow good tobacco. Even on the same farm, places 

 are found which seem to be especially adapted to its 

 growth. Herein another danger lies. The farmer is 

 likely to grow tobacco, year after year, on this same 

 piece of land until its fertility is exhausted, or else he 

 has robbed the rest of his farm by putting all of his 

 fertilizers on his tobacco land. Again, such conditions 

 make crop rotation impracticable. 



Cultivation. Moreover, tobacco requires thorough 

 cultivation and careful attention in harvesting and cur- 

 ing. These things are best learned by actual practice, 

 and a discussion of them is beyond the province of this 

 book. 



SUGAR BEETS. 



Beets Compared with Other Plants. Beets, like to- 

 bacco, are heavy feeders, and, like tobacco, require 

 thorough cultivation. Unlike tobacco, however, they 

 can be grown so as to retain the fertility of the soil. 

 Sugar is a carbohydrate, and carbohydrates, you will 

 remember, are made by the plant from the air and the 

 water which the plant uses. If the beets are shipped 

 to the factory, the sugar extracted there, and the pulp 

 returned to be fed on the farm or used as a fertilizer, 

 the soil has lost nothing. It is much the same as if 

 the tobacco ashes were brought back to the farm. With 

 tobacco, however, this is impossible, but with beets it 



