46 BULLETIN 760, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
or three methods of handling. It will be noticed that in these areas 
the highest valuation was placed on the tops when fed to stock on 
the farm, the next highest on tops sold and the lowest when the tops 
were turned under for manure. Where combinations of methods 
were employed, the results show that the acre value depends on the 
percentage of tops handled in a given manner, a higher valuation 
resulting when the greater percentage of tops was fed or sold, than 
when plowed under. 
In Salinas it is not the common practice to pasture the tops with 
stock on the farm since very little stock other than work stock 
is kept. Then, too, the scarcity of farm manure makes it advisable 
to plow under the tops. Fifty-six per cent of the growers followed 
this practice, 18 per cent sold the tops to be pastured on the field, and 
Fig. 26.—Dairy cattle feeding on beet tops. A temporary fence separates the cattle 
from the part of the field not yet harvested. 
the remainder combined these methods of handling. <A higher valu- 
ation was placed on the tops when plowed under than when sold. 
However, the highest acre value ($4) was reported where part of the 
tops were fed to stock on the farm and the remainder plowed under. 
Generally speaking, beet tops are of the greatest value when fed to 
farm stock by the operator and of least value when plowed under, 
and of more value when sold as pasture on the field than when sold 
and hauled away from the farm. (See fig. 27.) 
BEET RECEIPTS IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER FARM RECEIPTS. 
Table XX XI shows how beet receipts compare with other farm 
receipts on these farms. It will be seen that 92 per cent to 98 per 
cent of the farm receipts came from the sale of crops. Considerably 
more than 50 per cent of the farm receipts in the Los Angeles and 
