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YIELD OF BEETS. 



The folio-wing table will give the necessary data with reference to yield of beets 

 and of tops from the plat and the estimated yield of beets and of sugar per acre : 



Yield of beets and of tops. 



The beets yielded a little more than 7 tons to the acre and a little more than 1 ton 

 of sugar to the acre. Last year under favorable conditions of weather the yield 

 was 15 to 26 tons per acre, with an estimated yield of 2 to 3 tons of sugar per acre. 

 Owing to the extreme drought, the like of which according to the testimony of many 

 old settlers has not been seen for a generation with us, the beets yielded less than 

 a half crop. The yield of 7 tons to the acre may therefore be considered the very 

 lowest returns which will be obtained where good cultivation and care are bestowed 

 on the beets with us. 



No comparison can be made between the different varieties as regards quality or 

 yield, the difference between the different parts of the field being greater than that 

 between the different varieties. The varieties being under the most favorable con- 

 ditions (on the lowest ground, which contained most moisture) gave the largest 

 yields per acre of both beets and sugar. 



BEETS FROM FARMERS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE STATE. 



One thousand pounds of imported white imperial sugar-beet seed was bought by 

 the station last spring from the Menomonee Falls Sugar Company, and distributed in 

 pound packages to 851 farmers, requesting them to keep notes as to the growth and 

 cultivation of the beets and to forward samples of the beets grown for analysis to 

 this station in the fall. Owing to the drought, the beets did not do well with a large 

 number of farmers, and many paid but little attention to them as a consequence ; in 

 all, 373 samples of beets were received and analyzed by the writer. Twenty samples 

 were forwarded by mistake to the U. S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, 

 D. C., and analyzed by their chemists. Of the farmers receiving sugar-beet seed from 

 us, 33 reported failure of the crop, and four wrote they did not plant the seed. The 

 samples analyzed were all from the White Imperial seed sent out, except where other- 

 wise stated. The 373 samples came from fifty -nine counties in the State, making only 

 nine counties that were not represented. 



Most portions of the State suffered greatly from the drought, although not all as 

 much as the central part. The following table will give an idea of the distribution 

 of rain during the summer months at 17 weather-service stations in different parts 

 of the State. The table is condensed from data furnished by Mr. W. L. Moore, fore- 

 cast official, Milwaukee, Wis., to whom credit is due for the favor. 



