D. M. FERRY & CO*S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



19 



Sugar Beets are desirable not only for the manu- 

 facture of sugar, but are invaluable for stock feeding 

 and table use. They aire deservedly popular both on 

 the farm and in the small garden. No one that raises 

 beets of any kind should fail to plant at least a trial 

 bed. Our list comprises the best strains on the market. 



SOIL— The best soil for Sugar Beets is a rich, friable sandy or clayey 

 loam. They cannot be profitably grown on a tenacious wet clay or a very 

 sandy or excessively hard and stony soil. Rich mucky soils will often 

 give an immense vield of roots which though excellent for feeding are of 

 little value for sugar making. Most farm lands capable of producing a 

 good crop of com or wheat can be made to grow a good crop of beets. 



MANURE— Sugar Beets do much better when the soil has been made 

 rich for a preceding crop than when the fertilizers are applied the same 

 season. The use of rank, undecornposed manures, or such as contain a 

 large amount of nitrogen, will result iu large, coarse roots of little value 

 for sugar making. If the condition of the ground necessitates the use of a 

 fertilizer the current season, the greatest care sliould be talcen to have it 

 ^ evenly and thoroughly 



^-tI^^ '^, -/^--r-^-.^/' ^^^ v mixed with the 



_-23-.:i>T^-%^.<- Ihfc' J? i«^3*^^ sui-f ace soil. 



V; 



nilmorin's 

 Improved 



In genei-al the most 

 desirable beet for the 

 sugar factory is the 

 one containing the 

 largest pei'cenrage of 

 sugar. In this variety 

 we have one of the 

 richest sorts in culti- 

 vation, and moreover ' 

 it will do better on new lands 

 than any other variety, suf- 

 fer less from an excess of 

 nitrogen, and will keep the 

 best. In size it is medium or 

 a little below, yielding from 

 ten to sixteen tons per acre, 

 and containing, under favorable con 

 ditions, as high as eighteen percent 

 sugar. Tiie beet grows below the su 

 face. The green leaves are smoo 

 edged and spreading. Pkt..5c; Oz.l 

 *2 Oz. 10c: ^ Lh. 1.5c: Lb. 3.5c. 



\\ 



waDzleben 



A little larger than Vil- 

 morin's Improved, and con- 

 taining about the same 

 amount of sugar. Its yield 

 of beets is from twelve to 

 eighteen tons per acre. 

 The beet grows below the 

 surface. The green leaves 

 are rather large and spread- 

 ing with wavy edges. A 

 little hardier and easier 

 grown than Vilmorin's 

 Improved. Probably the 

 best sort for the experi- 

 menter to use. Ptt. .5c; 

 Oz.lOc;2 0z.lOc;!^Lb.l5c; 

 Lb. 35c. 



SEED— There is no crop where the quality of the seed used is of 

 greater importance than this; inferior seed cannot by any amount of skill 

 in cultivation be made to give a satisfactory yield. A great deal of most 

 patient and skillful labor has been expended in establishing and developn 

 ing strains of beets, which are adapted to sugar making. It is only by 

 the use of the best seeds that profitable sugar making is possible. 



PLANTING AND CULTIVATING -The great secret of successful 

 and economical culture of beets is thorough preparation of the soil be- 

 fore planting. The seed should be planted as soon as the soil can be got- 

 ten into good condition, which is not likely to be before the middle of 

 April, but the seed should be in before the last of May. We plant in 

 drills twenty to thirty inches apart, dropping from twelve to twenty 

 seeds to the foot. This will require from ten to fifteen pounds of seed to the acre. 

 It is very important that the seed be well covered with not to exceed one inch of 

 soil pressed firmly over it. As soon as the young plants have started suflficiently to 

 make the rows visible they should be cultivated and the field should receive con- 

 stant attention so as to keep the surface soil loose and destroy the starting weeds. 

 When the beets are about two or three inches high they should be thinned so as to 

 stand six to ten inches apart in the row, and cultivation should be discontinued as 

 soon as the roots have commenced to form. Often a crop is injured by late culti- 

 vation which starts the plants into fresh growth when thej' should be maturing and 

 developing sugar. Sugar beets ripjen and become fit for harvesting as distinctly as 

 do potatoes or corn, and they indicate that they are approaching this condition by 

 the outer leaves turning yellowish and the top seeming to decrease in size owing to 

 curling of the central leaves. They should be gathered and stored when ripe or 

 ature, for if left they may start into fresh growth, which lessens the proportion 

 f sugar. The successful cultivation of beets rich in sugar requires rotation of 

 crops, however rich and good the soil may appear to be. 



AENSCH'S VICTRIX SUGAR BEET 



The Best Sugar Beet Known. see page 3. 



VlLMORlN-S 



Improved 



Sugar 



Beet. 



L 



BEETS FOR 8TOCK FEEDING 



Giant Feeding Sugar Beef •^J;ir.fS!eK^«£^^^rJflT^ 

 ... or Half Sugar Mangel 



No plant has shown greater improvement, resulting 

 from careful seed breeding and selection, than the Sugar Beet, 

 the sugar content of the modern varieties being nearly twice 

 that found in the old sorts. By the same skillful breeding 

 there has been developed in Giant Feeding Sugar Beet a sort 

 very much more valuable for feeding purposes than the ol ' 

 sorts, it being very much richer. In addition to this the size a' 

 foi-m have been improved until it yields as much per acre 

 the best Mangels and twice as much per acre (bulk of roots) 

 as the rich sugar beet seed, is much easier handled, keeps bet 

 ter and is in every way most valuable to the farmer. Roqt 

 large ovoid in form, very 

 color, with small top. 

 gels. Pkt. 6c; Oz. 10c 



hrrg^ty gi 

 Europe where the superior feeding value of the sugar l>eets 

 over the coarse Mangel Wurzels is generally recogniz^-d. 

 This sort is so rich in sugar that it is sometimes grown foi" 

 sugar factories. We do not recommend it for this purjmse 

 but do as a most profitable ciop for feeding stock. The 

 numerous green leaves are (juite erect and the elongated, egg- 

 shaped root is tinged with red at the top. It is veiy hardy 

 and productive, yielding about twentv tons to the acre. 

 Pkt. oc; Oz. 10c; '2 Oz. 10c; h Lb. 1.5c; Lb. 35c. 



Lane's Imperial Sugar l^li^^^-l^'^.^^^ 



Sugar. It is more like Mangel Wurzel in character, but the 

 white tlesh is much sweeter and tenderer. It is souietimes tised 

 for the table. Pkt. 5c; Oz. 10c; 2 Oz. 10c; 's LbJ.5c; Lh.35c. 



roots half 



eer. Excellent 



feeding. Pkt. 6c; Oz.lOc; 2 0z 10c; ^ Lb.l6c; Lb.40c. 



ceil. IS imiuu eajMci xiaumeu, Keei>^ uei- . , , , ,;. / - .\ . ^ ^. .^ . ,; . .^ .- 



• most valuable to the farmer. Root^ ^'' ^^^^ ^^^^^*^- ^^^' o**: ^^- l^^"! - 0^. 10c; 'i LbJ.j 

 ■y smooth, with few rootlets; "•hiteiMi^-^-|>.U Y»||n\A/ ^iiriar ^^''^^^s tna large size; 

 It should be planted closer than MM- • rClltll I CIIUW JU^dF long, yellow and sweer 

 ; 2 0z. 10c; ^ Lb. 16c; Lb. 36c. ^ forstock feeding. Pkt.6c; Oz.lOc; 2 0z 10c; ^ Lb.li 



