By-Products 161 
disturb the fertility of the soil; but this practice is not 
economical when live-stock can be fed and the manure 
returned to the land. It would be better, however, to 
plow the tops under than to allow them to be taken 
away from the farm and have no manure returned. It is 
a much more profitable practice to buy stock to eat the 
tops than to sell the tops, because the price obtained for 
them is usually much below their feeding value, which 
may generally be considered as equal to about one or two 
tons of alfalfa hay for each acre of beets. Besides, if 
their fertilizer value has to be replaced by commercial 
fertilizer, the loss is considerable. 
Feeding and storing beet tops. 
There are three general methods of feeding beet tops. 
The most common consists in turning the stock into the 
fields to pasture the tops just as they were left when re- 
moved from the beet. Although this is the easiest way, 
it is very wasteful; it is estimated that from one-third to 
two-thirds of the tops are tramped into the ground or 
soiled by manure and dirt. There is also danger that 
the stock will over-eat if allowed to run freely to green 
tops after they have been eating dry feed. When this 
occurs the cattle scour excessively and fattening is de- 
layed. This danger is somewhat lessened if the tops are 
allowed to become dry. Tops, when left in the open, 
sometimes tend to mold and cause trouble in feeding. 
This is especially true in humid sections. If pasturing is 
regulated somewhat for the first three or four days, the 
stock may be trusted safely to feed on the tops without 
injury. This method is less desirable than drying the 
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