8 
Bulletin 63 . 
In case alfalfa ground is broken up beets should not be grown 
on it the first season, but rather a crop of wheat. This will put the 
soil in better condition and will rot the alfalfa roots. It is not ad¬ 
visable to grow beets more than two years in succession on the same 
ground.f Alkali ground may be an exception. 
If barnyard manure is used to fertilize the soil, the beets can 
advantageously follow a crop of corn. 
The best varieties are the Kleinwanzlebener and Vilmorin. 
The harvesting is done either by means of a beet puller or by 
plowing a furrow near the beets and pulling them by hand. 
The topping is done by means of a heavy knife. Topping 
machines have, as yet, not been successful. 
The factories work on beets hauled directly from the field up 
to the time freezing weather sets in. Beets to be used in the later 
part of the season should be protected from freezing; for this pur¬ 
pose they may be put into shallow pits and covered with straw and 
dirt, either near the factory in pits provided by them, or in the field. 
The cost of growing an acre of beets varies in different parts of 
the country, the size of area planted, the condition of the ground, 
etc. The range is from thirty to forty-five dollars, or from two to 
four dollars per ton. 
About eleven tons of sugar beets per acre at four and a half 
dollars per ton is a fair average crop, with a possibility of a much 
larger yield. Compared with alfalfa or wheat, the. return seems 
large, but much more labor is required to produce it. 
Sugar beets have a high value for stock feeding. They have 
been fed at the College with good results, except where fed to steers. 
The beets seem to be too watery for profitable feeding to steers where 
the feeding is done out of doors in cold weather. It is advisable 
not to feed them to fattening lambs for the last six weeks before 
marketing, grain being preferable at this period, so that the flesh 
and fat may harden for shipment.* * 
The tops are good feed for all classes of farm animals. They 
may be fed at once, as soon as harvested, or put in a silo and fed 
through the winter. 
The next record of results occurs in bulletin No. 42. In 1897 
we made an effort to enlist persons in different parts of the State in 
the raising of sugar beets. The Station has already established be¬ 
yond any doubt the adaptability of both the soil and climate of this 
f Without fertilization. 
* The author does not make any statement as to the extent to which grain 
should replace the beets at this period, whether wholly or only partially.—H. 
