THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



341 



teen tons per acre. The net returns vary 

 from a profit of $29.00 to a loss of $7.55 

 per acre. At Grand Island, Nebraska, the 

 average was $28.73 per acre, and the ave- 

 rage profit $9.27. The yield varied from 

 five to twelve tons per acre, and the net 

 results from a profit of $17.00 to a loss of 

 $12.00 per acre. Mr. West puts the aver- 

 age cost of growing and marketing sugar 

 beets in Nebraska at $30.00 per acre, and 

 statts that the officials of both factories 

 put it at the value of seven tons of beets, 

 or $28. 00. 



The average cost of growing beets in 

 Utah, not including land rentals, is put 

 at $32.50 per acre. The average yield is 

 stated at $10.1 tons, but the yield for 1897 

 was 6.75 tons. Improved beet cultivating 

 implements had not, at that time, been 

 introduced into Utah, and this, with the 

 higher land rental and cost of irrigation, 

 raises the actual cost to probably $40.00 

 per acre. 



Relative to the profits of beet culture, 

 Mr. West says: Large yields are regular- 

 ly obtained by those farmers who do thor- 

 ough, clean work, and intimates that 

 therein lies a big secret of success. i: 



It is also pointed out that the labor 

 question is a most serious problem in this 

 industry. It is too important to be en- 

 tirely passed over, even in a summary 

 such as this. 



Concerning the feeding of pulp to cat- 

 tle and sheep he gives results obtained in 

 Nebraska and Utah. At Lehi the pulp is 

 placed in silos with addition of about one- 

 half per cent, of its weight of salt. The 

 cattle always have access to plenty of hay, 

 pulp, and water. They never feed a 

 pound of grain in fattening the stock, un- 

 less the pulp gives out. 



John Reimers, Grand Island, Nebraska, 

 had had three years' experience in feeding 

 pulp to cattle. He fed fifty pounds of 

 pulp, twenty pounds of corn meal, a little 

 bran, and oil cake, and the usual amount 

 of hay per day, as a full ration. Hake 



Bros., also of Grand Island, fed lambs a 

 mixture of four pounds of pulp to one or 

 one and a half pounds of corn meal, be- 

 sides hay, as a full ration. The results 

 are highly satisfactory. The pulp is said 

 by- Superintendent Geu. Austin, of Lehi, 

 to give the best results after fermenting 

 in the silos for thirty days, and shou 

 not be fed sooner than this. 



The experiments made in 1898 are 

 grouped as follows in bulletin No. 51: 



1. Different dates of planting. Re- 

 sults in favor of early planting in respect 

 to yield, sugar content, and purity. 



2. Planting on freshly plowed ground 

 as compared with planting on ground 

 plowed a few days before planting. Re- 

 sulted in favor of planting on freshly 

 plowed ground by 2.3 tons in yield, two 

 per cent, in purity, and a slight excess in 

 sugar. 



3 Seed irrigated in planting as compared 

 with that not irrigated. Results obtained 

 on the College Farm showed no advantage 

 from tliis piuclicu. The soil \vu> a uaher 

 heavy loam ami was inoi^t at planting 

 time. Guod results have .been observed 

 from tins |>ract ce on lighter soils. 



4. Soakinjr seed before planting. Re- 

 sults did not show any gain from the soak- 

 ing of the seed. 



5. Sowing at the bottom of a three- 

 inch furrow. The resulting stand was not 

 so good as that obtained by sowing at or- 

 dinary depths. The yield was once as 

 good and twice poorer than that from sim- 

 ilar rows of ordinary planting. The per- 

 centage of sugar and purity were not per- 

 ceptibly different from other plantings. 



6. Different depths of planting. The 

 depths at which the seed was planted 

 were from one-half an inch to an inch and 

 a half. The first series, planted May llth 

 in a wet soil, showed no difference, but 

 the later planting, made May 27th when 

 the soil had dried out considerably, 

 showed an advantage in favor of the deep- 

 est planting, amounting in comparison 



