The Greeley tribune., 1908-03-26
THEIR VALUE
BEET LEAVES HAVE BEEN
FOUND FINE FERTILIZER
Their Value as Feed Also Demon
strated. Interesting Arti-
Gle by Lewis S. Ware
of Michigan.

In the National Farmer, published
In Bay City, Mich Lewis S. Ware
has the following interesting article
on the Importance Of beet leaves -
fertilizer and for their value ~ feed:
II have frequently gone into con-
siderable detail respecting best
leaves, the role they play, their
utilization for feeding, and their
Importance as \ fertilizer. 1t is an
astonishing fact that 1T is only with
iu recent years that the beet leaf
issue has been thoroughly discussed.
OF late there has been undertaken .
series of we'll conducted experiments
at Lauchstaedt, Germany. Professor
Schneidewind, of the agronomic sta
tion of the locality, draws certain
conclusions, an outline of which I
shall give in this article. They
we're conducted in five different ways
as regard the fertilizer used. All
the land under cultivation before
seeding had received the same guam
tity of potash and phosphate 80 as TO
give assurance that the plan would
develop under satisfactory conditions.
The fertilizing was completed in
to cases by green manure and harm
yard manure. The other plots had
100 'ktlos Of sodic nitrate per acre.
Our readers are aware that in
sugar beet cultivation It is custom
ary in continental Europe to use
considerable quantity OF nitric fer
tilizer: consequently. for comparison
OF results obtained, we do not con-
slider those cases In which there Vas
no nitrogen. III We bring all the
three years experiments down to
the basis of an acre, Grandeau be-
lieves that the data of the table
shows to what extent beets need
mineral fertilizers, and furthermore,
the enormous influence of the fertil-
izer on leaf development and the i'm
portance of heavy manuriDg when
heavy yields are the requisites
sought.
The quantity of nitrogen con-
tanned In the leaves. 4O.5 kilos per
acre, corresponds to 26O kilos of sodie
nitrate; the quantity Of potash, 46.6
kilos, removed from the ground h
even greater, meaning SO kilos potas-
sic chloride or potassic sulphate.
Phoshoric acid is the least Of all.
The quantity removed by beet leaves
Is very nearly the same as that taken
up by cereals In general flom a0
area of a given size. conseqently It
is from the nitrogen standpoint that
beet leaves offer the greatest interest
to the farmer. The value CT the nj
trogen in the fertilizer is very much
greater than is the value of the
potash or phosphoric acid. In Ger
many nitrogen costs about 80 cents .
kflo In the form of sodic nitrate;
the potash and phosphoric acid are
not worth more than one third that
price.
Professor Schneidewind has made
a series OF experiments to practically
determine the fertllizing value Of
beet leaves. On one field the tops
and leaves were removed; on the
other the tops and leaves were
plowed under. The fields were seed
ed with oats and each received ex-
actlv the same care.
In order to estimate the profits re-
sultinR from the excess due to the
utilization of beet leaves and tops,
the market prices then existing At
Halle we're taken as q basis. After
all calculations were made, it was
found that the money advantage was
about GA per acre. To this amount
it is desirable to add the money
value OF the crop which will follow
tue oats, as the latter crop has Ger.
tainly not taken up all the plant
foods furnished by the leaves and
tops
The Womau's Foreign Missionary
society of the NJ. e. church took
charge OF the evening service at the
church last Sunday evening. Their