10 



BULLETIN 726, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



RELATION OF BEET ACREAGE TO IRRIGATED AREA. 



It is a question whether the ideal rotation area for sugar beets can 

 be given. There is no doubt a theoretically correct relationship be- 

 tween the areas devoted to the important staples in a given district, 

 and this balance may be approximated on some farms each year. 

 In a district where the various enterprises are well established the 

 ideal cropping system may be more nearly approached than in sec- 

 tions where there is considerable change in the selected list from year 

 to year. Tins study cfoes not attempt to answer the point at issue, 

 but it does show the average conditions that existed on these farms 

 at the time of the survey. 



Under the system of general farming that prevails in the Fort 

 Morgan and Rocky Ford districts it appears that the list of leading 

 crops is smaller than in the Greeley area. The Fort Morgan records 

 indicated three staples, namely, alfalfa, beets, and barley, whereas 

 in the Greeley section the list included alfalfa, potatoes, sugar beets, 

 and spring wheat or barley. This brief discussion may therefore 

 explain, in part, the difference of 10.6 per cent between the per- 

 centage of irrigated land in beets at Greeley and the percentage at 

 Fort Morgan (Table IV). 



Table IV. — Average farm area, tillable area, irrigated area, acres in beets, and per cent 

 of irrigated land in sugar beets. 



District. 



Number of 

 farms. 



Greeley 195 



Fori Morgan I 60 



Rocky Ford 106 



Acres per 

 farm. 



136. 40 

 143. 40 

 92. 33 



Acres till- 

 able. 



112.39 

 113. 59 



70.72 



Acres irri- 

 gated. 



107. 40 

 107. 55 

 65.77 



Acres in 

 beets. 



25.72 

 37. 20 

 22.91 



Per cent of 

 irrigated 

 land in 



beets. 



24.0 

 34.6 

 34.9 



SOIL TYPES. 



The counties included in the beet-growing districts afford a large 

 number of soil types for comparison. Two surveys have been made 

 in these districts by the Bureau of Soils of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 1 In the Rocky Ford area there are two impor- 

 tant soil types, namely, Maricopa sandy loam and Fresno fine sandy 

 loam. These two constitute approximately 70 per cent of the area 

 mapped in the Arkansas Valley. The Fresno fine sandy loam has a 

 fine sandy or silty texture, is yellowish in color, and extends to a 

 depth of 6 feet. It is comparatively rich in plant food, but is some- 

 times deficient in organic matter. It is well adapted to such staples 

 us alfalfa, sugar beets, melons, and grain, is easily tilled and can be 

 maintained in first-class condition without an undue amount of 

 work. The Maricopa sandy loam has a much more open texture 



i Soil Survey of the Lower Arkansas Valley, Colorado, by H. Lapham and party, 1902. Soil Survey of 

 the Greeley area, Colorado, by J. Garnett Holmes and N. P. Neill. 



