90 The Sugar-Beet in America 



tations. Under these conditions, it is a rather common 

 practice to allow alfalfa to grow until the latter part of 

 May, then plow under the crop and after thoroughly 

 working down the land, plant potatoes or corn. The 

 next year beets are planted. The organic matter plowed 

 under with the alfalfa adds to the humus supply of the 

 soil and enriches it in nitrogen. 



A farmer having eighty acres of land and wishing to 

 raise twenty acres of beets and having as other possible 

 crops, alfalfa, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans, and the 

 small grains, might arrange his crop in a rotation some- 

 thing like this : alfalfa, four years ; followed by potatoes, 

 corn, or tomatoes, one year; beets, one year; peas or 

 beans, one year ; beets again, one year ; grain as a nurse 

 crop with alfalfa, one year. This would give an eight 

 years' rotation with the following acreage each : alfalfa, 

 forty acres ; corn, potatoes, or tomatoes, ten acres ; beets, 

 twenty acres ; peas or beans, ten acres ; and wheat, oats, 

 or barley, ten acres. 



A variation of this rotation would be to put the two 

 beet crops together and let the peas or beans follow ; or 

 if it was desired to have as large an acreage of beets as 

 possible, the peas and beans could be eliminated and the 

 beets raised three years continuously if well manured, 

 giving a total of thirty acres of beets. If the farm were 

 small, the same general arrangement could be main- 

 tained, only it is probable that the relative area planted 

 to beets would be larger. The rotation could readily 

 be extended or shortened a year or two by increasing or 

 decreasing the length of time the land was in alfalfa. 



Where alfalfa does not thrive, the same general plan 



