34 BULLETIN &95, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



to handle both crops there should be no serious difficulty in produc- 

 ing both sugar beets and tobacco, especially if these crops are pro- 

 duced on comparatively small areas on the individual farm. It may 

 be found, also, that these crops will rotate one with the other to the 

 advantage of both. 



Potatoes. — In certain areas studied, the potato under present con- 

 ditions is one of the strongest competing crops with sugar beets. 

 Where these crops are grown in rotation, however, the results, from 

 the standpoint of yield, are satisfactory. Unfortunately, certain dis- 

 eases affecting potatoes attack sugar beets also; this is notably true 

 of the scab. When the price of potatoes is high the tendency in the 

 especially good potato areas is to increase the potato acreage and to 

 diminish the sugar-beet acreage correspondingly. The chief danger 

 is that when an extra-large potato crop is harvested the price usually 

 drops, and the results are somewhat disappointing. It should be 

 noted in this connection that the prices paid for sugar beets are 

 fixed in practically all cases before the seed is planted. The returns 

 from this crop depend not only upon the yield, but upon the quality 

 of the beets produced and upon the wholesale price of sugar. As 

 already indicated, sugar beets and potatoes form a part of a satis- 

 factory rotation, but neither of these crops should immediately suc- 

 ceed or follow the other, because of the diseases that are common 

 to both plants. There should be one or two years of intervening 

 crops, such as small grains or alfalfa. 



Alfalfa. — In some localities studied, alfalfa has appeared to be a 

 strong competing crop with sugar beets. This is true in part because 

 of the tendency to leave alfalfa sod without breaking for a number 

 of years, thereby making a very long rotation or, in some cases, 

 what amounts to no rotation ; for example, certain areas have been 

 found in which alfalfa has remained undisturbed in some fields for 

 upward of 20 years. Alfalfa is an inexpensive crop to produce, pro- 

 vided a good stand is obtained. This is not difficult if the ground is 

 well prepared and properly handled at seeding time. After the 

 alfalfa has become established the expense of maintaining the crop 

 is slight, and the chief expense in connection with alfalfa production 

 consists in irrigating in certain sections and in harvesting and mar- 

 keting the crop. 



In some sections where alfalfa grows well it is not a competing 

 crop with sugar beets, because of the remoteness of these areas 

 from the market or because it is not fed locally to advantage: but 

 in cases where the alfalfa is used locally to advantage or where 

 the markets are accessible it may compete strongly with the sugar 

 beet and may exclude the latter to such an extent that the beet acreage 

 will be so small that the profitable operation of a sugar mill is not 

 possible ; for a sugar mill should have a sufficient quantity of beets to 



