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Show RAISING SUGAR BEETS. j I J W. Smith. Juxt went of the reservoir. res-ervoir. Is an old sugar beet ralxer and h it enthusiast on the subject. He doeHft't like to hear any one any that sugar beets cannot be raised her.e and he takes exception to Mr. Austin's statement Hint a crop of alfalfa imit be turned under before the laud Is fit for sugar beets. We went down there tho other day to see what Mr. .Smith had done in the way of raiding them. He hus two good shed patches and In one of them especially the beets are of good size and thrifty Unking, Unk-ing, There are a good many bare spots but Mr. Smith says this Is owing ow-ing to the fact that the ground wax not properly watered. The land Is quite heavy and has only Just been cleared and Mr. Smith believes he has fully proved that a good crop ran be raised on raw land. Some of the beets are 26 Inches long and weigh ten pounds. If as heavy a stand of beets can be grown over the whole field as some patches show Mr. Smith has proved his point. He Is going to show his faith by putting out 40 acres next year. The Imneral elements n the soli here appear to be exactly suited to sugar beets, and Mr. Smith believes there Is nuffbient humus. We have found that sugar beets make the best growth of any vegetable on new land. It was about the only thing that made a good growth on the editor's farm, although little attention atten-tion was given to them, as we only planted them for an experiment. James Sanford has as fine a field as we have seen anywhere. Hut as Mr. Smith explains the ground must be thoroughly cultivated, watered before the beets are planted and frequently cultivated after they are up. There Is no doubt that a sugar factory would be established here Just as soon as it Is shown that beets ran be raised and that the farmers are willing to devote the time neceamiry for their proper cultivation. The farmers have certainly cer-tainly got to turn their attention to something else besides raising grain If Ihoy prosper. With a portion of the farm In alfalfa for dairy cows, hogs and perhaps some sheep, a little lit-tle In barley and oata for the stock and the rest In sugar beets the farmer has bis farm In shape In make a living liv-ing and to enrich It every year until It can raise a great variety of cropn in abundance. |