GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 15 
FARM MANURE. 
The value of farm manure should not be based entirely upon the 
percentage of fertilizing- constituents found therein. Especially 
is this true in the West, where with many soils the addition of humus 
is highly desirable. Indeed humus may be more beneficial to some 
of these soils than commercial plant food. Occasionally a Colorado 
beet grower is found who hauls manure to some out-of-the-way 
place instead of scattering it over his fields, but, as a rule, the value 
of this by-product is appreciated and a systematic effort is made to 
treat various portions of the farm . in regular order. Invariably 
better yields are harvested after farm manure is applied, though it 
may not always be possible to determine the exact benefit that should 
be credited to the manure. Instances are on record where the 
yield of sugar beets has been raised from 9 or 10 tons per acre up to 
16 or 18 tons per acre, apparently entirely through the application 
of manure. The nature of the subsoil is important in this connection. 
Some of the farms, however, do not have a large supply of manure, 
and on such farms it is impossible to give each field a liberal applica- 
tion. Under such circumstances it may be advisable to supplement 
farm manure with green manure. The plan of turning under a sub- 
stantial growth of alfalfa at least once in the rotation is a feature of 
farm management which deserves more than passing attention. 
The farmer who has followed this practice knows that better yields 
result, and he therefore has sufficient reason for maintaining the prac- 
tice. To raise the standard of agricultural methods on the average 
farm in these districts the adoption of this plan is needed. There are 
several other crops which may be used for green manure. Sweet 
clover may be mentioned in this connection. 
Ninety-two per cent of the men interviewed applied manure. 
They reported, not only on the time consumed in doing the work, 
but also on the fertilizing value of this by-product. In the majority 
of cases, the manure was scattered on beet land. There were 310 
growers who followed this practice. On 22 farms the manure was 
applied to potato land, on 5 to grain, and on 1 each to tomatoes, 
cabbage, and cantaloupes (Table VI). 
In working out the labor cost for manure, a 50 per cent charge 
was made where the crop received direct benefit. If sugar beets 
Were removed one crop year after the application of manure, 30 
per cent of the labor was charged against the crop. When two sea- 
sons intervened between the manuring of the soil and the production 
of sugar beets 20 per cent of the labor cost was charged to beets. 
Some hauled manure in the autumn, others throughout the winter, 
and still others in early spring, the work being done partly with 
spreaders and partly with wagons. The implements used in the 
Rocky Ford district were not indicated on every record; hence it 
