OCR Text |
Show 45 Tons Per Acre Possible Has the 20-Ton Club too Low a Standard of Admission? Some one hasi shown that the modern sugar beet is capable of giving a yield of 45 tons per acre. Yields of 30 tons on commercial beet fields are not unknown, and 25 tons per acre yields are report-j report-j ed in increasing numbers. Twenty-ton crops on fairly large acreages are counted by the scores in most normal season. Dr. O. W. Willcox of "Facts About Sugar',' who applauds the 20-Ton Club suggests that our sights should be raised. And why not have a 2 5 -Ton Club? More interesting still is his analysis of the method by which maximum tonnage may be produced. His rules are: 1 Give the growing plants an adequate supply of moisture at all times. 2 Give them an adequate supply of plant food. In detail he suggests: plow deeply ( 1 0 to 14 inches) ; keep the cultivator going througout the growing season; protect the crop from enemies and disease. "Let the farmer take note," says Dr. Willcox, "of all the things that tend to improve soil moisture and all the things that tend to enrich en-rich the soil in plant food, and the sugar beet will carry him far on the road to financial success io farming." |