624 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



fact, there is no staple crop which can compete with the sugar beet 

 in demanding the favorable attention of those interested in irriga- 

 tion. If a net profit of from $10 to $20 per acre can be secured, from 

 $100 to $200 per acre can be paid for the land. It is estimated that 

 nearly 80,000,000 acres of land in the arid regions of the United 

 States may eventually be irrigated, being nearly one-fifth of the total 

 area. Of this area perhaps 10 per cent is capable of easy and speedy 

 irrigation. One million acres planted to beets would yield, under 

 intensive culture, a quantity of sugar sufficient, with the Louisiana 

 product, for domestic consumption. There is nowhere in sight a 

 more promising prospect for agricultural development than in the 

 production of sugar beets on irrigated lands. (F. B. 52 Revision 

 1910.) 



The Soil. In the selection of soil for sugar-beet production, the 

 tonnage, the sugar content, and the purity coefficient must all be 

 considered. If tonnage alone were desired the problem would be 

 much simpler; but as a rule (to which there are some exceptions) 

 unusually large beets are lower in sugar content than the smaller 

 ones. The time may come when, by proper selection and care, the 

 larger beets will generally contain as high as or even a higher per- 

 centage of sugar than the smaller ones do now; but, under existing 

 conditions, it is sometimes possible to get better returns from a 

 smaller than from a larger tonnage. For example, 12 tons per acre 

 of 12 per cent beets at $4.50 would bring $54, whereas 10 tons of 15 

 per cent beets at the same price, plus an additional 33 1-3 cents for 

 each additional 1 per cent of sugar, would bring $55, with the cost 

 of production in favor of the smaller tonnage. This being true, that 

 soil is best adapted to the production of sugar beets which will yield 

 a fair tonnage with a high percentage of sugar, provided the coef- 

 ficient of purity is not lowered. An ideal condition would be a large 

 tonnage with a high sugar percentage and a high coefficient of 

 purity. 



There are several kinds of soil which, under proper conditions, 

 will produce good sugar beets. Experience has shown that a clay 

 loam containing a sufficient supply of humus is one of the best 

 sugar-beet soils. Likewise a sandy loam containing a proper amount 

 of humus is usually satisfactory. In some portions of the West and 

 Middle West there is a soil known as adobe, which though somewhat 

 difficult to till, gives good results when planted to sugar beets. In 

 some of the fertile valleys of the West there is a black soil almost 

 inexhaustible because of its great depth, which yields a fine, rich beet. 

 As a rule, the so-called muck soils are not satisfactory for this crop, 

 but when properly drained, fertilized, and tilled they produce a sat- 

 isfactory quantity and quality of sugar beets, especially if they have 

 a rather firm subsoil The stony or gravelly soils and the loose sandy 

 soils should usually be avoided in selecting sugar-beet land. How- 

 ever, some good crops of beets have been grown even in these unfa- 

 vorable soils, though these have been exceptional cases. 



Soils that are strongly alkaline are not to be recommended for 

 sugar-beet culture, although the beet is more resistant to alkali than 



