1922.] 



SroAR Beet Growinc; 



71 



machine. With this machine the tops are macerated, and will 

 serve best as green manure. Behind the topper is the share 

 which Hfts the beets from the soil without dama{::iii|^ them in 

 any way. A set of forks, similar to those in the Martin potato 

 digger, turns at some speed behind the share, and catching the 

 loots, throws them into a large drum, where the adhering earth 

 is removed. The beets are carried by cross bars to the top of 

 the drum and dropped into a hopper which will hold about 440 lb. 

 This hopper can be emptied by the machine mechanic quickly 

 and easily, and it leaves, every 40 or 80 yards, a heap of Beets 

 that can be readily removed by the following carts. Harvesting 

 of beets with machines of this type is similar to, but much less 

 expensive than, harvesting potatoes on a large scale. 



Use of Tops. — The farmer must decide for himself what will 

 be done with the leaves and crovrns, but there are several pos- 

 sibilities. They make excellent green manure and can be profit- 

 ably ploughed in. They can be fed green to cattle, folded with 

 sheep, or used for silage. They are always marketable, though 

 to sell them is inadvisable, for they seldom fetch a price at all 

 equivalent to their value ; for instance the price last season has 

 been as low as £1 10s. Od. per hectare, i.e., about l-2s. 6d. per 

 acre. Leaves recently analysed in Holland were found to con- 

 tain : — Nitrogen 0.56 per cent.. Phosphates 0.24 per cent.. 

 Potash 0.8 per cent. This will show that they contain a large 

 percentage of the elements necessary for plant food, and if the 

 Unit Values are taken at, nitrogen 17s., potash 4s. lOd., and 

 phosphoric acid 3s., the value of a ton of tops and crowns as 

 green manure would be approximately 14s. 



As a cattle food, Kellner. in the " Scientific Feeding of 

 Animals," gives the following figures : — 



7'oj)s and Cvoicns of Beet. 

 Wet. Siloed. Dnj. 

 Starch equivalent ... 7'2 9'5 "27 

 A Dutch Commission of experts placed their feeding value 

 somewhat higher than this.* It can be concluded that when 

 fi-esh these products have a higher feeding value than mangolds, 

 and w^hen dry the feeding value is about equal to that of clover 

 hay. Therefore the preservation of these by-products is a matter 

 of great importance to the farmer. Continental farmers praise 

 the tops as a food for milch cows, but care should bo t:ikon to 

 see that they are fed clean and fresh, for without judicious 

 watching they are liable to cause scour " in the early part 

 of the season. 



♦ See this Journal, Vol. xxii, p. 750. Noveinher, 1015. 



