Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1903-05-02
Points on SUGAR Beet Growing.


tainly one point in favor of the sugar
beet. whether for sugar making or for
stock feeding Whether the sugar
beet can be best produced on light or
heavy soil is a question yet in dis
pute- In some experiments the 1arg-
est yields were on the heavy SOILS.
but the largest average yields were
on the light soils. On the whole, the
results were more favorable to the
heavy soils. The use Of commercial
fertilizers has resulted in increasing
the sugar contents of beets, but fire.
Quently not enough to pay the cost of
the fertilizers used. The phosphates
made the best showing as to returns.
In the cultivation of s. gar beets, 1t
is desirable to prc-ide dust mulch,
and the depth of cultivation wiz be
generally regulated by the depts re-
quired to keep up dust mulch, xnich
differs in dif1ere1t soils. In some
cases it cannot be mai. tai-,ed by any
thing less than a three Or four-inch
deep cultivation. The distance apart
of the rows will have much to do
with the size of the beets and some
thing to do with sugar contents.
About eighteen inches seems to ne
the ideal distance apart for the rows,
and the beets in the rows should not
be separated by more than eight
inches. Too much room means too
big beets with too little proportion
of sugar.
1t is rather surprising to learn that
the weeds that are sometimes allowed
to grow in the sugar beet field have
the power of stealing the sugar from
the sugar beets or of at least keep
ing the beets from getting all the
sugar they would otherwise acquire.
A test to prove this was made at the
Nebraska station. On four p ats of
beets some were left weedy and some
were kept clean. Beets from the four
weedy .plats were analyzed and gave
respectively 12.9, 12.O, 9.8, 90, per
cent of sugar content. From the clean
plats the beets analyzed 1872, 12.5, lilo,
10.7. In all cases the difference was
in favor of the plat that was kept
clean. 1t is true that this was but
one experiment and a great law
should not be laid down on a single
experiment, but it must be consid-
cred as having some weight.
1t is noC desired to have beets very
large, nor is it desirable to start a
growth in the fall after the beet is
properly mature. A season of wet
weather in the fal. is very likely to
start a new growth of the beet, which
increases in size without increasing
the amount of sugar contained If
the buds form and expand on the
crown of the beet there is an actual
loss of sugar.
High Protein and High Starch Corn.
From the Farmers Review: Now
that the farmers of Illinois are turn
ing their attention to growing high
protein corn for the purpose of get
ting better balanced ration for
stock feeding, it will be well to con-
slider some of the probable results.
To grow a large crop of high protein
corn will require a soil rich in nitro
gen. The trouble with most Illinois
farms, where proper rotation of
corn and clover or other leguminous
plants have not been followed, is that
these lands are already deficient in
nitrogen, and to attempt to grow a
high protein corn upon them in their
present condition, will likely result
in disappointing yields. 1t seems prob
able that the yield from such lands
win decrease as the protein content
of the corn is increased. 1t is now
an established fact that the corn plant
cannot obtain nitrogen from the air,
but is dependent entirely upon that
which is available in the soil. There
is, therefore, but one course for the
grower of high protein corn to follow,
and that is to increase the nitrogen
in the soil by growing more clover,
COW peas, soy beans and other
legumes, all of which have the power
of obtaining. nitrogen from the air
through the agency of bacteria in
their root tubercles. While it is es-
sential that these leguminous crops
should be grown by every corn grow
er. l wish to emphasize the point
that the grower of high protein corn
viii exhaust available nitrogen in the
soil more rapidly than the grower of
high starch corn and must, therefore,
have soil rich in that element to OBJ
tain the best results.
AS feeders we want the high pro-
tein corn for our live stock, but it
seems probable that a high starch
corn would be less exhausting upon
the soil and give a larger yield on
light and thin soils. We do not know
this to be true. But since all plants
get their carbon from the air 1t
would seem that the variety of corn
containing the most carbonaceous
matter and least protein would pro-
duce the largest yield In bushels ON
thin Soils This is . point of much
interest to the grain seller who cares
more for yield than for feeding value.
We would like to hear from Prof
Hopkins ON this point-Clayton G.
Pervier. Bureau County. ulinois-