CHAPTER XIII. 



BEETS A 



DIRECT 



FOOD 



SPECIAL 

 GUI. TUBE 

 REQUIRED 



THE SUGAR BEET AND ITS CULTURE. 



The luxuries of yesterday become the necessities of 

 tomorrow. The main business of the farmer is to sup- 

 ply the world's necessities. 



Sugar beets may be grown for two general 

 purposes; 1st, as a direct food for stock and 

 man ; 2nd, for the manufacture of sugar. Beets 

 have been grown many years for stock feed, but 

 the sugar beet for manufacture becomes a new 

 crop, where factories are established. 



The value of the beet as a supplementary food 

 for stock is something we have been slow to learn. 

 Even after the sugar has been extracted, what re- 

 mains is worth enough for food to make the by- 

 products valuable. 



"NYhere beets are properly raised for the pro- 

 duction of sugar, their culture differs at almost 

 every point from the culture of alfalfa, wheat 

 and potatoes, which have been our staple crops. 



The high sugar content and purity of the 

 sugar beet are artificial characteristics produced 

 by years of special cultivation, selection and 

 plant breeding. This has given rise to "kinks" 

 in beet culture, which are not only important but 

 essential if we make the value of the crop suffi- 



