56 The Sugar-Beet in America 



or even important factor affecting the percentage of sugar 

 in the beet." 



Even though, as pointed out above, the soil does not 

 affect greatly the sugar-content of the beet, it is of the 

 highest importance in determining yield ; and after all it 

 is yield in which the farmer is most interested. The fac- 

 tory is also interested in securing a high tonnage of sugar 

 to the acre. Every phase of the soil should, therefore, be 

 given consideration by the producer of sugar-beets. 



ORIGIN OF SOILS 



The material of which the soil is made has been de- 

 rived largely from the rocks and minerals composing the 

 crust of the earth ; but in some soils a considerable part 

 is made up of vegetative matter from the bodies of dead 

 plants. All agricultural soils contain a small quantity 

 of organic matter which is intimately mixed with the 

 mineral matter. It is difficult to tell in all cases just 

 the kind of rock from which a given soil is derived, since 

 a great amount of weathering and mixing often cause it 

 almost to lose its original identity. 



Numerous minerals may be isolated from every soil, 

 but in the finer soils the minerals are separated only with 

 difficulty on account of the minuteness of the particles. 

 Among the most common minerals making up the soil 

 are quartz, the feldspars, hornblende, pyroxene, mica, 

 chlorite, calcite, dolomite, gypsum, apatite, and the 

 zeolites. Each of these brings to the soil some plant-food 

 that helps to nourish the crop. Some of them make much 

 better soils than others, but all contribute their part. 



