CHAPTER VI 

 MANURING AND ROTATIONS 



THE fact that sugar-beets may often be raised for 

 several years on the same land without a decrease in 

 yield has led many farmers to believe that the productivity 

 of the land can be maintained without either the appli- 

 cation of fertilizers or changing the crop. The opposite 

 point of view, that beets are very hard on the land, is some- 

 tunes held. Neither of these extremes is true. Where 

 sugar-beets are raised continuously, a certain amount of 

 food is carried away. Particularly is this the case if 

 the tops and crowns are removed, since they contain the 

 great part of the mineral salts of the entire plant. An 

 unreplenished deposit of money in the bank, no matter 

 how large, will in time be exhausted if continually drawn 

 on. The plant-foods in the soil may be considered in 

 much the same way. 



Fortunately most soils on which sugar-beets are raised 

 in America are high in mineral plant-foods ; further, very 

 little of this mineral matter is lost if the by-products are 

 returned to the land. Nevertheless, maintaining the 

 fertility of the soil and thereby insuring a high yield is 

 one of the chief problems of sugar-beet production. 



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