Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-28
Sugar Bee,s of the Great Belt.

| The latest Indiana Farmer has IN
article stating that Professor Nicholson
of the experiment station, Nebraska,
has returned from spending several
months In the sugar-beet districts of
France and Germany. The studies
made there have fully convinced him
that the sugar beet can be grown with
much profit in the great beet belt
| pointed ous by us last week. In the re-
| port of his investigations he says every
| comparison shows favorably on the
! side of the beet-sugRr industry IN this
| country. Two years ago he began the
| cultivation of beets at the experiment
station attached to the state university,
With the object of ascertaining whether
| a sugar beet with paying quantity of
saccharine matter could be raised. In
all his analyses he placed the line of
profitable culture at ~ per cent. If the
| beets yielded IL per cent or more of
sugar they were counted profitable; II
less, Improbable. He has since been
turning his attention to bests raised
by farmers. OF the beets raised this
year over 500 samples were analysed.
The work of making the analyses began
in the latter part of August and is con-
tinuing at this time. The earlier work
buOWS d uluCu lcSS pcE Ccut VI buSaT Iudu
the latter, as the beets were then not
fully matured. Soil that produced but 8
per cent beets in August, reported bsets
that run from Is to Is per cent in Ooto-
Der and November. Professor Nicholson
says he now knows that more than 80
per cent of the beets analysed by him
this season have exceeded the IL per
cent line, while n majority had gone over
Is per cent, and fully one-third have
produced 20 per cent. Upon this he de-
c!ares that the beet sugar industry for
America has passed the experimental
stage and has assumed reality.
Nothing remains now but the enlisting
of the interests of the farmers in the
work, for unless they take hold of it with
the proper spirit, nothing can be accom-
pllshed. This will not be difficult to &C
complish, if they can be shown that the
culture Of sugar beets can be made prof.
table to them. But, first of all, both
Professor Nicholson and Commissioner
jenkins agree that the farmers will have
to be carefully aud thoroughly educated
TO q proper appreciation of the fact that
this plant requires a special culture to
make the business profitable.
Professor Nicholson says he found 1t
the com mon belief in Germany that every
lluo Lie DCcl clUp ID uUcuy Z pcT CtuL Oh
sugar Is added to the product. While
this may not be absolutely true, 1t has
been demonstrated that nothing but the
most thorough culture will produce q
profita bic crop.
There is doubtless yet much to learn to
make the sugar beet q first-class success
in the various sections of the great beet
belt. To this end it is recommended that
the work of practical experimentation
be entered into at as early day as pos
sibie. Those experiments should embrace
the cost of culture, the yield and the per
cent of saccharine matter IN the product
as shown by analysis.
Some farmers have an idea, says Pro-
fessor Nicholson, that they should aim
to raise as big beets as possible. This is
wrong, as the large beets are not nearly
SO rich in suorose as the smaller ones,
ana it is sugar we are after. not pulp.
Regarding the preparation of the soil,
it is agreed that It should be plowed |
deeply. The ordinary surface blowing
that answers for cotton, corn and the |
other grains will not suffice. 1t must be |
deep and thorough, so that sufficient |
amour: of loose, open, frlable soil may |
be had for the beets to draw their |
nourishnent from that they may prop |
eriy matnre. Deep, mellow, we'll |
drained soils are theoretically the best.
Such are easily permeable by the air and |
moisture; are not readily affected by |
drouth and offer but little resistance to |
the downward growth of the root. The |
sugar beet requires regular garden Gull
ture for the very best success. II. is best
to drill the seed in rows, about sixteen |
inches apart, and when the beets have |
grown up to SOME size thin them out to |
about six inches apart. The earlier cul-
tivation may be by a horse hos. but the
work of thinning must be done by hand,
as it REQUIRES intelligence instead of ma
chine work.