782 



The National Geographic Magazine 



X 



15 bushels per acre, Qurum wheat this 

 year covered an area of over 3,000,000 

 acres, many of them valueless for agri- 

 cultural purposes before the advent of 

 this new crop. Its value to the farmer is 

 over twice the entire cost of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture during the current 

 fiscal year, including the Weather Bu- 

 reau, the costly meat inspection, and the 

 Forest Service. 



RAPID DEVEIvOPMENT Olf BEET SUGAR 



The beet-sugar industry has grown 

 rapidly under aid and encouragement 

 from the Department of Agriculture and 

 the experiment stations and with favor- 

 able legislation by Congress and several 

 state legislatures. 



About 560 short tons of beet sugar 

 were made yearly from 1879 to 1887; in 

 1891 the quantity was 6,000 short tons ; 

 in 1906, 483,000 short tons, and in 1907, 

 500,000 short tons. 



As an acquisition to agriculture, much 

 may be said in favor of growing sugar 

 beets for the factory. Tillage must be 

 of the best and the soil fertile. The pulp 

 of the beets, after the extraction of the 

 sugar, is relished by live stock. The crop 

 is grown under factory-contract condi- 

 tions, and the farmer knows upon what 

 he may depend for profit. 



Sugar factories occupy a belt across 

 the continent in the sugar-beet zone and 

 a belt from Washington to Arizona along 

 the Pacific coast. 



In 16 states there were 64 factories in 

 1906, with a capacity of working 49,500 

 tons of beets daily. In the western 

 states, the growing of sugar beets has 

 proved to be so remunerative that sugar- 

 beet farms increased in value $42.49 per 

 acre from 1900 to 1905, as determined 

 by special investigation by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, or from $99.47 per 

 acre in 1900 to $141.96 in 1905. 



To the fostering of this industry by 

 nation and states, it has responded by 

 increasing the value of its production 543 

 per cent in nine years. The factory value 

 of the refined sugar made in 1899 was 



$7,000,000, and in 1907, $45,000,000.* 

 One-third of the value of the beet 

 sugar made this year would be enough to 

 pay the cost of the Department of Agri- 

 culture during the current fiscal year and 

 the national expense of the sixty experi- 

 ment stations of contiguous United States 

 when they shall have received the ulti- 

 mate appropriation of the Adarfis act. 



LUXURIANT ALFALFA 



Alfalfa, that extraordinary plant for 

 producing wealth and doing wonders to 

 farms, is occupying an important place 

 in the plans of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, the experiment stations, and the 

 agricultural colleges. Through their ef- 

 forts largely it has rapidly gained success 

 in cultivation throughout a vast area. 

 The value of the crop as hay this year 

 is supposed to be $100,000,000, and if 

 the plans and efforts now under way to 

 promote its extension receive a reason- 

 able reward, the value of the future crop 

 will be several times the present amount. 



This forage plant is a chemical labora- 

 tory in which nitrogen is taken from the 

 air. It is a soil improver of the highest 

 merit. As a flesh-forming feed for grow- 

 ing live stock, and as a milk and egg pro- 

 ducer, it is itnexcelled by any plant of 

 large production. 



It grows 2.y2 tons of hay to the acre as 

 an average for the whole country where 

 it is grown, or twice the average for all 

 kinds of hay, and, besides this, is more 

 nutritious than other hays. 



The cultivation of alfalfa has been 

 pressing eastward until now it has estab- 

 lished itself as far as the longitude of 

 eastern Kansas, except in southern 

 Texas. It is established in some areas 

 still farther to the eastward — in spots in 

 Arkansas, in southern Wisconsin, north- 

 ern Illinois, and northern Indiana, in the 

 limestone regions of Kentucky and Ten- 

 nessee, and in the southeastern corner of 

 Michigan. 



*The raw cane-sugar mill production of 1907 

 is estimated at 389,000 short tons, with a fac- 

 tory value of $28,000,000, the year 1904 alone 

 exceeding this amount. 



