The Lamar register., 1910-03-02
Rotation of Crops.

SAID tnat Ine pIouuSeioh VI oeA
sugar at home will go farther to-
wards raising our standards OF agri-
culture than will any other one
thing, an assertion that possibly
sounds erroneous on the face OF It,
but which appears to be decidedly
sound after looking into the ques-
ton. In this sugar beet community
such a statement is one of interest,
coming from a man who is undoubt-
eddy the greatest farmer of his
tory, James Wilson.
The reason for the statement is
accounted for in the word "rota--
ton" Rotation, when referred to
sugar beets, means an increased pro-
duction of other crops following. An
other statement which sounds
strange, but is vitality true. 1t is
being generally accepted as the
truth, but the reasons for 1t are
not as well known. possibly. as
they might be.
To answer the question, a Ques-
ton might be asked. How much
money would 1t take to purchase
ton of decayed vegetable matter.
distribute it evenly over an acre
of ground, and then bury 1t to
depth of six to fourteen inches!
A whole lot more money than most
farmers would care to pay, is as
sured. Sugar beets do just that
for the land. working every day.
Sugar is carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen. In plain language 1t means
q chemical substance drawn from
the rains. sunlight and winds. IL
is nothing from the ground. There
fore the farmer who turns back the
byproducts of his beets loses moth
ing from his soil
Still the question remains unansw
cred as to why the land has I'M
proved in value to future crops.
The fibrous roots growing deep IN
to the ground. and after the gath
ering of the beet crop. decaying
there in a sub soil. form a decayed
vegetable matter that furnishes nour
ishment to succeeding crops. A
sugar beet Is a root. the main part
of which furnishes the crop as
manufactured into sugar. The
hundreds of little fibrous roots
clinging to the main stem form a
mat in the subsoii that enriches
the land under the surface because
they stay there. .'s i-t'
It has been figured that II the
fibrous roots left IN the ground al
ter harvesting the sugar beets
weigh only three quarters OF an
ounce per beet. after the crop Is
taken out over one ton OF vegetable
matter Us left furnishing a humos
underneath, where it nourishes'
When it Is considered, 1t ts not 30
remarkable that crops following
sugar beets are larger than other-
wise, and no more remarkable that
Iue mObL lalnouS o6AAShs
pert in the world has stated that
sugar beet culture would do more
to raising the standards Of agri-
culture than any one thing.
In Germany. the home Of crop
rotation, fertilization and soil treat
ment. where for hundreds Of years
the lands have improved in value
rather than running down. the fig
ures complied by the government
have shown that oats following su-
gar beets increased from 30.S BUSH
els an acre to 1872 per acre. Barley
grew on an average of 34.S bush
els per acre before beet raising and
43.6 bushels after. And more re-
markable on the face of 1t is the
fact that the lands had been USED
for sugar beets as long as was feas-
ible, and needed to be planted to
something else to rotate. One crop
acted as an enricher for the other
and neither could long endure with
out help.
The above cases mentioned In
Germany were made from thirty
five farms of from 500 to 1000 acr'
each, an aggregate that gives q de-
finite figure to take as correct
To bring it nearer home. and
cite cases in the Arkansas valley
this seeming chemical gymnastics oil
the grounds when raising sugar
beets assumes more interest.
Emery Robb of Rocky Ford dis
trict says that he farmed twenty
years in the valley, raising an aver
age of 40 bushels of oats and 1Oo
crates Of cantaloupes before raising
any beets. After raising beets on
his lands, and rotating his crops
he raised 80 bushels of oats and
125 crates of melons per acre. In
stead of paying out for a fertilizer
he received a big income from MS
beets meanwhile. and his Lands
were improved without added work.
NJ I Horner. also of Rocky Ford,