10 



BULLETIN 735, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



or $33,510, should l>e charged to the 1915 crop of sugar beets. It thus 

 appears that the total charge against future crops is greater than 

 the amount that is accumulated in the soil from previous years. If 

 the entire amount of manure used had been spread upon all the 

 sugar-beet land devoted to the 1915 crop, the average per acre 

 would have been 5.6 tons; but some growers spread as high as 25 

 tons per acre, and the average of 15.3 tons was spread on each acre 

 manured, thus leaving 4,599 acres of land with no manure to benefit 

 the 1915 crop of beets. 



The growers on 72 farms did not manure any of the land they put 

 in beets, 62 growers manured less than 25 per cent of their beet area, 

 116 used manure for approximately 50 per cent of their beet area, 

 and 55 manured 75 per cent or more of all the land they put in 

 beets. The lands that were manured as a whole produced a good in- 

 crease in the yield, and, after deducting the value of the manure at 85 

 cents per ton and the cost of the labor of spreading it, a net profit of 

 $1.41 per acre, due to manuring, is shown for the entire area. (Table 

 III.) 



Table III. — Use of manure as affecting yields of sugar beets in the Billings 



region. 



[The valuation of beets is that given by the growers.] 



Classification. 



Not 

 manured. 



Percentage of area devoted to 

 beets upon which manure 

 was used. 



lto2-U. 25 to 74 J. 75 to 100 



All farms. 



1,908 



18,835 



9.S7 



Area devoted to beets acres. 



Beets produced tons. 



Production per acre .do. . . 



Value of beets sold S110, 742 



Value of beets per acre 58. 04 



Value of increase of crop per acre 



2,055 



20, 328 



9.89 



3,443 



38, 183 



11.09 



1,443 



17, 855 



12. 37 



8,849 



95, 201 



10.76 



§124,006 

 60.37 

 2.33 



S228, 022 

 66.24 

 S.20 



37,211 

 74.29 

 16.25 



8569,981 



64.45 



6.41 



In considering the value of the increased yield per acre, the quality 

 of the beets as well as the added tonnage should be considered. 



In the comparison of those farms using no manure with those 

 spreading manure on 75 per cent or more of their sugar-beet land, 

 it was found that the estimate of 85 cents per ton for the value of 

 manure in the yard was less than the actual value of the manure, 

 for on this one crop the farmer received an average of $1 per ton 

 for manure by increased crop production after deducting for all labor 

 costs of spreading manure at the usual rates. (Table IV.) This 

 shows that ma ume has a value, and the beet grower can not afford 

 to let it waste. 



