The Keota news., 1912-11-29

ing Of sugar beets, the breaking up
and enrichment OF the ground by the
taproots and lateral roots put out by
the beet which remain behind when It
Is pulled and the fact that the sugar in
the beet takes nothing from the soil. 20
that the land is not impoverished to
any extent II the pulp and tops are fed
back on to the land. are the chief fac
tors which make this such a valuable
agency In increasing agricultural pro-
duction.
Fifty Per Cent lnersass.
When the Upited States senate was
considering the bill to remove the pro-
tective duty from imported sugar last
spring some of the most impressive tes-
timony brought forward in favor Of the
sugar beet came from reports of the
actual experiences Of Colorado farmers
collected by Truman G. Palmer. secre-
tary Of the United States beet sugar
industry. w. L. Ryan Of Loveland, for
instance. reported that he had raised a
beet crop for ten years. On twenty.
eight acre field before raising sugar
beets he had succeeded by system Of
rotation in raising from thirty to fifty
bushels Of wheat per acre. After two
years Of beet raising the same land
yielded seventy-One bushels per acre, a
record crop. The land increased 80 per
cent In value as q result of beet rails
ing.
Virgil Stockton Of Greeley had two
pieces Of land side by side, one Of ten
acres. the other Of seven. The ten acre
patch. after several crops of alfalfa,
was put into potatoes and yielded $50
bushels to the acre. The seven acre
field. after growing beets, produced 1877
bushels of potatoes to the acre. Mr..
Stockton reported that not only did he
get thlrty-seven bushels more to the
acre from his beet improved land, but
that the crop was better in quality and
actually brought him a better price in
the market.
"Has Made Better Farming"
David Snyder Of Platteville increased
his wheat, yield from thirty to thirty
five bushels to thirty-6ve to fifty bush
els per acre. his oats from twenty to
twenty-6ve>to fifty to seventy-ive, bar
ley from twenty-five to thirty to sew
enty to eighty-five and his potatoes
from crop that was practically worth
less to 200 bushels.
From Avondale q report came In
from the Taylor Mercantile company,
which had increased the wheat yield OF
it's land from twenty-five to forty bush
els per acre. the yield Of oats from
thirty to fifty, beans from twelve to
eighteen bushels and hay from three to
four tons per acre. The writer Of the
report added: Before the introduction
Of sugar beet raising farming was con-
Quoted in a very loose way. As it Ia
impossible to raise sugar beets at
profit without employing the best farm
ing meth,,ds. it has made better farm
ers Grain and oil other crops do well
following beets."
Farm Values Rise.
With direct returns from sugar beet
land running from $25 to $35 an acre,
after paying for all the labor required
to make the crop, and with its demon
strated effect in increasing the yield
Of succeeding crops. it is' not surpris-
ing to find that the erection of beet
sugar factories has in every case added
greatly to the value Of surrounding
farm land as soon as the industry has
become established. While the rate
Of increase varies greatly in different
parts Of the state, farmers and real