GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN MICHIGAN AND OHIO. 



11 



individual farms showed considerable variation (Table IV). The 

 latter ranged from 4 tons to 30 tons per acre. 



The average labor requirements and cost per acre of hauling were 

 also quite uniform. However, the amount of labor and the cost per 

 acre on individual farms showed considerable variation. This varia- 

 tion may be explained largely by the amount of manure applied per 

 acre and the kind of implement used in hauling. The lowest labor 

 cost per acre was found in the Caro district, where a charge of 90 

 cents was made for a 4-ton application. The highest labor cost, 

 $9.50 for a 30-ton application, was reported in northwestern Ohio. 



Table IV. — Use of manure, average by districts. 



District. 



Per 



cent 



of all 



records 



Acres in beets. 



Tons per 

 acre. 



Hours of labor per 

 acre. 



Labor 

 cost per 





Total. 



Manured. 



Man. 



Horse. 



acre. 





75 

 75 

 72 

 32 



15. 46 

 9.74 

 6.27 



15.24 



8.00 

 6.23 

 4.41 

 6.55 



12.87 

 14.30 

 13.13 

 13.94 



9.03 

 11.19 



7.94 

 10.20 



16.58 

 19.91 

 IS. 30 

 20.69 



S3. 33 





4.23 





3.42 





4.11 







The manure spreader was used on 135 farms and the wagon on 56 

 farms. On 10 farms the implement used was not indicated. The 

 capacity of the manure spreader ranged from 50 to 100 bushels, with 

 an average of about 75 bushels. 



An examination of the estimates reveals the fact that the farms 

 using wagons to haul manure average 20 per cent smaller than 

 those using spreaders. In many instances farms using wagons ex- 

 clusively are too small and the amount of manure to be hauled too 

 limited to warrant the purchase of a manure spreader. It has been 

 demonstrated that the application of manure by means of a manure 

 spreader is the best method, not only in time required to do the work, 

 but also in respect to the quality of the work done. It would seem 

 that two or more farmers on adjacent small farms might purchase a 

 manure spreader to be used jointly to the advantage of each. 



Undoubtedly stable manure is the best fertilizer for general use 

 with sugar beets, but on most farms the supply is limited, making it 

 advisable to supplement the barn-yard manure with an application 

 of commercial fertilizer to the beet land. Sixty-eight per cent of the 

 farmers in the Caro, 47 per cent in the Alma, 78 per cent in the Grand 

 Rapids district, and 39 per cent in northwestern Ohio applied com- 

 mercial fertilizer. It will be noted that the use of fertilizer and 

 stable manure in northwestern Ohio was not so extensive as in the 

 other districts visited. The general practice in northwestern Ohio is 

 to depend to a greater extent for the maintenance of soil fertility on 

 sugar-beet land on the practice of systematically plowing under a 



