56 The Sugar-Beet in America 
or even important factor affecting the percentage of sugar 
in the beet.” 
Even though, as pointed out above, the soil does not 
affect greatly the sugar-content of the beet, it is of the 
highest importance in determining yield; and after all it 
is yield in which the farmer is most interested. The fac- 
tory is also interested in securing a high tonnage of sugar 
to the acre. Every phase of the soil should, therefore, be 
given consideration by the producer of sugar-beets. 
ORIGIN OF SOILS 
The material of which the soil is made has been de- 
rived largely from the rocks and minerals composing the 
crust of the earth; but in some soils a considerable part 
is made up of vegetative matter from the bodies of dead 
plants. All agricultural soils contain a small quantity 
of organic matter which is intimately mixed with the 
mineral matter. It is difficult to tell in all cases just 
the kind of rock from which a given soil is derived, since 
a great amount of weathering and mixing often cause it 
almost to lose its original identity. 
Numerous minerals may be isolated from every soil, 
but in the finer soils the minerals are separated only with 
difficulty on account of the minuteness of the particles. 
Among the most common minerals making up the soil 
are quartz, the feldspars, hornblende, pyroxene, mica, 
chlorite, calcite, dolomite, gypsum, apatite, and the 
zeolites. Each of these brings to the soil some plant-food 
that helps to nourish the crop. Some of them make much 
better soils than others, but all contribute their part. 
