224 FARM CROPS 



provide pasture, fodder or green manure. But a 

 less quantity will suffice to produce a seed crop in 

 good form. It is ready to cut for hay after the seed 

 has formed and before it is ripe. The seed may be 

 harvested and threshed like clover seed. When 

 grown for the seed, a sufficient quantity is likely to 

 shatter out to produce a crop the next year by 

 simply running the harrow over the land in the 

 early spring. 



Spurry has been called "the clover of light, sandy 

 soils," because of its value in improving the same, 

 both in texture and fertility, when grown as a green 

 manure. It should be turned under with a light 

 furrow that the plant food may be kept near the 

 surface. If some of the seed is allowed to ripen 

 before the crop is thus buried, another crop of 

 spurry will grow above the decaying plants with- 

 out the necessity of sowing any more seed. Under 

 some conditions it is possible to plow under three 

 crops of spurry in one season. 



SUGAR BEET. A root crop for sugar and feed. 

 The dried pulp, a by-product of the sugar factories, 

 is an excellent food for live stock, especially for 

 dairy cows. So, too, are the whole roots good, but 

 they cost too much. The beets are much relished 

 by stock and their physiological effect is an aid to 

 digestion like all succulent rations. The dried pulp 

 acts in this way and compares favorably with many 

 concentrate feeds. When grown under proper cul- 

 tural conditions the amount of sugar will vary from 

 12 to 20 per cent, depending on the variety and soil. 

 Most of the seed is obtained from Europe, though 

 small amounts are now being secured in this coun- 

 try, with possibilities that the industry will be 

 enlarged. 



