GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 15 



FARM MANURE. 



The value of farm manure should not be based entirely upon the 

 percentage of fertilizing constituents found therein. Especially 

 is this true in the West, where with many soils the addition of humus 

 is highly desirable. Indeed humus may be more beneficial to some 

 of these soils than commercial plant food. Occasionally a Colorado 

 beet grower is found who hauls manure to some out-of-the-way 

 place instead of scattering it over his fields, but, as a rule, the value 

 of this by-product is appreciated and a systematic effort is made to 

 treat various portions of the farm in regular order. Invariably 

 better yields are harvested after farm manure is applied, though it 

 may not always be possible to determine the exact benefit that should 

 be credited to the manure. Instances are on record where the 

 yield of sugar beets has been raised from 9 or 10 tons per acre up to 

 16 or 18 tons per acre, apparently entirely through the application 

 of manure. The nature of the subsoil is important in this connection. 



Some of the farms, however, do not have a large supply of manure, 

 and on such farms it is impossible to give each field a liberal applica- 

 tion. Under such circumstances it may be advisable to supplement 

 farm manure with green manure. The plan of turning under a sub- 

 stantial growth of alfalfa at least once in the rotation is a feature of 

 farm management which deserves more than passing attention. 

 The farmer who has followed this practice knows that better yields 

 result, and he therefore has sufficient reason for maintaining the prac- 

 tice. To raise the standard of agricultural methods on the average 

 farm in these districts the adoption of this plan is needed. There are 

 several other crops which may be used for green manure. Sweet 

 clover may be mentioned in this connection. 



Ninety-two per cent of the men interviewed applied manure. 

 They reported, not only on the time consumed in doing the work, 

 but also on the fertilizing value of this by-product. In the majority 

 of cases the manure was scattered on beet land. There were 310 

 growers who followed this practice. On 22 farms the manure was 

 applied to potato land, on 5 to grain, and on 1 each to tomatoes, 

 cabbage, and cantaloupes (Table VI) . 



In working out the labor cost for manure, a 50 per cent charge 

 was made where the crop received direct benefit. If sugar beets 

 were removed one crop year after the application of manure, 30 

 per cent of the labor was charged against the crop. When two sea- 

 sons intervened between the manuring of the soil and the production 

 of sugar beets 20 per cent of the labor cost was charged to beets. 



Some hauled manure in the autumn, others throughout the winter, 

 and still others in early spring, the work being done partly with 

 spreaders and partly with wagons. The implements used in the 

 Rocky Ford district were not indicated on every record ; hence it 



