8 BULLETIN" 721, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
tillage. If it is close to the surface and of such material that it can 
not be broken up successfully, the growing of sugar beets suitable 
for sugar making is impossible. Beets produced under such condi- 
tions will be short, with a resulting low tonnage, or they will be 
pushed out of the ground and consequently will be low in sugar and 
purity. The nature of the hardpan is of considerable importance 
in this connection. If it is of rock and near the surface little can 
be done to improve its condition for sugar-beet culture, but if it is 
simply a close and compact form of soil it may be broken up with a 
subsoil plow. An extremely hard subsoil is sometimes found in 
the sugar-beet sections, especially in local areas, and this condition 
sometimes constitutes a limiting factor in the production of this crop 
in those areas as a whole or on certain farms or fields, depending 
upon the location and distribution of the hardpan. If the hardpan 
is present at a great depth it may result in holding too much mois- 
ture in the surface soil, thereby rendering the conditions unfavorable 
for sugar-beet production ; if the hardpan in this case has sufficient 
slope to carry the water off, the unfavorable condition may be relieved 
by proper drainage. 
Porous soil. — The reverse of the preceding condition is sometimes 
found in sugar-beet sections in which the porous subsoil is of such a 
nature and of such a depth that great difficulty is experienced in 
keeping the soil supplied with moisture during the growing season. 
Rain or irrigation water passes rapidly through the subsoil and is 
soon out of reach of the growing plant. If the porous subsoil is 
very deep and extremely porous the ground is unsuited for sugar- 
beet culture. Frequently something can be done to relieve this con- 
dition to a limited extent by proper cultivation and by supplying 
the surface soil with sufficient humus to enable it to retain enough 
moisture to produce a fair crop. A heavy crop of beets can not be 
expected on a thin surface soil underlain with an extremely porous 
subsoil. 
TOPOGRAPHY. 
The unfavorable topography of an area is frequently the limiting 
factor in the production of sugar beets. Mountainous areas can not 
be utilized for the development of the beet-sugar industry unless 
the valleys are sufficiently large to support a mill or are favorably 
located with reference to an existing mill and composed of sufficient 
fertile, tillable soil so that beets of proper quality and in sufficient 
quantity can be produced at a reasonable cost. Many small valleys, 
especially in the western United States, might be utilized in the 
growing of sugar beets were it not for the fact that they are too 
small to support a sugar mill and too far from existing mills to 
permit the beet roots to be transported at a sufficiently low cost. 
