96 FEEDING WITH SUGAR BEETS, SUGAR, ETC. 



they not only contain less sugar, but the juices are less pure 

 than they would have been had the leaf stripping been prohib- 

 ited. When farmers grow beets for cattle-feeding there can be 

 no objection to stripping. 



Early feeding and g ma n farmers are necessarily obliged to feed the leaves im- 

 mediately, and under such circumstances there is a great waste 

 of material. They are pulled from the cribs as eaten by the 

 live stock and certain portions fall on the ground, are trod upon 

 and are thus lost. This is why it is more economical to chop 

 up the leaves before the early feeding. 



Many farmers allow sheep to run over their fields and eat the 

 leaves during their passage. Under all circumstances such 

 customs should be prohibited, as large quantities of leaves are 

 necessarily trod under and are thus destroyed, which in reality 

 means a waste as far as their nutrient value is concerned. 

 Furthermore, it is simply folly to allow freedom to sheep, etc., 

 at that period of the year when there is always danger of rain. 

 Another fact not to be forgotten is that sheep manure is not 

 considered a desirable fertilizer for sugar beets; but this would 

 evidently be of no consequence if a suitable rotation of crops 

 was maintained. 



As a general thing as soon as the beet harvest commences 

 residuum feeding is resorted to, but for a farmer who has a 

 considerable area devoted to beets it is necessary to adopt some 

 system of feeding which will ultimately become quite an econ- 

 omy when green forages are scarce. 



Harvesting the It is urgent in most cases in harvesting the beets either to 

 crop of beet form piles of the roots on one hand and the leaves on the other, 



leaves and tops. or ^ o alternate rows of leaves and roots, or again to form piles of 

 the beets and use the leaves as a cover. When the piles are 

 small the practical results obtained are more satisfactory, as the 

 leaves then are left on the ground and are subsequently 

 collected. 



An average crop is about 12,000 kilograms of leaves and 

 tops to the hectare (4.8 tons to the acre), which may be com- 

 posed as follows: 25 per cent, for the tops and 75 per cent, for 

 the leaves. If one makes allowance for the cost of conveyance 

 of the leaves and tops to the center of utilization, it will be 



