THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY IN" THE UNITED STATES. 49 



two of these have already been considered under live stock. The 

 lime is an important by-product of the mill used in purifying the 

 juice in the process of separating the sugar from the nonsugars in 

 solution. For this purpose limerock is obtained and burned. The 

 limerock should be as pure as it is possible to find it and should be 

 thoroughly and evenly burned. The beet juice is treated with this 

 burned limerock, and a large part of the mineral matter taken up by 

 the beet plants in the process of growth combines with the lime and 

 is removed by filtering. The lime is then washed out or otherwise 

 removed from the mill and is known as waste lime or lime sludge. 

 Large quantities of this material accumulate at the various mills 

 and may be used as a soil improver and as a fertilizer. It is bene- 

 ficial not only because of the lime, which tends to improve the phys- 

 ical condition of the soil, but because of the mineral matter that the 

 lime has removed from the beet juice. The use of this material as 

 a fertilizer has not come into general use in this country. In some of 

 the beet-sugar countries in Europe this by-product is all used in 

 making commercial fertilizers. It is used in part as a filler in the 

 manufacture of fertilizer and in part as a soil improver just as it 

 comes from the sugar mill. It therefore has in this country two 

 possibilities: First, it may be used just as it comes from the mill, 

 and, second, it may be used in the manufacture of commercial fer- 

 tilizers. When first removed from the mill it is wet and can be 

 handled with difficulty, but it soon dries sufficiently to be handled 

 readily, is friable and easily incorporated with the soil, and should 

 all be used in improving farm lands. In some localities where the 

 Value of this material has been realized it is washed out and carried 

 ih ditches or flumes to the fields, where it is spread by the irrigating 

 water. In this way it may be handled quickly at a minimum cost, 

 and if care is taken it may be evenly spread. As soon as the ground 

 on which the lime has been spread is sufficiently dry it should be 

 plowed and the lime thoroughly mixed with the soil. For sugar- 

 beet culture there is very little danger of getting too much lime in 

 the soil. Beets not only thrive well on limed soil, but the lime seems 

 to have a beneficial effect under some conditions in retarding the 

 development of certain plant diseases. 



ROADS. 



One of the most important factors in developing a beet-sugar in- 

 dustry is that of roads. Certain localities otherwise adapted to 

 sugar-beet growing have been found in which this crop can not be 

 recommended or encouraged because of the condition of the roads. 

 Fortunately, the interest in roads during the past few years has 

 greatly reduced the number of such localities. Road building and 

 sugar-beet culture have been mutually helpful. It is only by having 



