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Show I A VALUABLE PAPER I 0n the raising of Sn- j w gar Beets. I J- i ' ' " BY MR. GEORGE AUSTIN I - .Field Superintendant of the Utah I ' Jk Sugar Co. ft v ( '' The way we prepare lrfnd and raise B ' -sugar beets Jt Utah under our ByBtem m , . v of irrigation are na follows: It In the first place nil the land that is going to be planted in sugar beets should x be well plowed in the fall say from 12 to 14 inches deep, and then if necessary to I plow it in the spring, it should be I plowed much shallower 8iiy from 0 to 8 I . , 'inches deep, but in this country w'her0 I wo have so much frost and snow in the I ( winter, we usually use a disc harrow or I . -cultivator in the spring and work the I surface of the ground so ns to prepare a I good seed bed. It is necessary in most I ' cases to roll the land before planting, I but In doing so gieat care must be taken I not to Jo this when the land is too I moist, otherwise it will pack it too hard I or the beet drill. We plant the seed I with a horse drill made for this purpose lv which plants four lows at a time from j 18 to 20 inches apart ns may be desired. i This gives ample room between the rows ' to make the little water furrows that are essential for irrigation. L Wo aim to plant our beet seed from - H one-half to one and one-fourth inches .' r, deep should it bo planted deeper than . ' ,N this wo are very apt to have a poor y: ' stand of plants. We drill from 15 to 20 v&e rriMfin- .- W 3-' 8Ce( Per ncre l'"B w,tu favorable "-' In! wiirin,siiro'jrpTrTect5st)nfd of , W '' ivK-'K"! beets. The thinning should bo carefully J ft done when the plants have four leaves f we do this by taking a narrow hoe Bay I . ' 4 or 5 inches wide and space the beets ) in the rows to bunches from 0 to 8 inches ) apnrt, then we usually have a email boy ' ' follow the men hoeing, removing all ' I ' plants from each bunuh excepting one of the strongest and healthiest in said ! hunch. The required distance between ,' J iplants we determine by tho strength of J ; our soil. For instance, rich soil wo thin , . tho plants to about 0 inches apart, in , very light soil it is necessary some times i i to leave them ns far as 10 inches apart. " i Li "" each farmer being his own judgo in re- IL gardtotiiis. J t, After the thinning 13 done wo run a t - , ' cultivator drawn by a horso throngh the rows, but great care must be taken not f o to cultivate too deep or hill up thoyoung I, plants, as they require all tho air ncJ. i ' , sunlight that it ia possible for thonvto have. After tho first cultivation ve i.i ' generally hoo them the second time to ' , clean, out all,tho weeds in tho rows and ? .C ' remove any surplus beota' that' may have been over looked at tho time ot thinning By this time the beets ' fVj. ' '"' should be far enough advanced to com- r mence preparing for irrigation. This we , ft , " ' do by using tho same cultivator, attach. - " . 1 j, ing a small 0 inch furrowor on the rear f .; "v (, , end, and wo cultivate every other row ' ', leaving a niefc httlo ditch of sulllciont .flizo to qarry tlio water without flooding r 4ho beets. Tho second watering wo i - .'. alternate tho rows this method usually ' giyes enough moisture each watering, " '' but this'kud (if irrigation however do. l spends 'entirely on tho slope and con- 1 . dition of tho land. If the land has much of u alopo and is inclined to be a light sandy loam it may bo necessary to -Water each row every time you irrigate 1 t during tho season, but tho latter is an I y' ,.. i exception to the rulo with us. 'V?, j Wo never commonco irrigating until, i ' " , tho beota show they requiro ' moisture " lBUally, lotting tlipin sufTer n few days) , ' indbyso doing it always gives uaa ' 1 1 nice shape, long tapering beet. 4 tho first watering is applitd too parly we usually haven short spriggy undesirable fieet. Too much mnnuro or alkali Will have tho same effect on sugar beets. After six years of practical experience with this crop in Utah wo have demonstrated demon-strated thatbug.ir beetH onn be successfully success-fully raised by irrigation. Each farmer however should make a stud,) of this business for himself so us to be careful not to give the beets too much waiter, s it may prove a greater detri-ment detri-ment than not having eutJlcient. Wo generally have to make crosb ditches in our beet fields on about every 20 to 80 rods, depending upon the slope and nature of the land. If we run the water farther than this it usually Buturate8 the upper part ot the field too much before the lowerend getssnflioicnt. Great enre must betaken in turning tho water on the beets not to force too much into the furrows causing it to flood or over flow and must be avoided if possible. pos-sible. Therefore it is essential to select land for this crop, ns much ns possible, with a nice elope. We always cultivate the rows after each watering as soon ns we can, cultivating them from 5 to 0 inches deep, this allows the beets to develop and also helps to retain tl moisture much long-.r thnn it would otherwise. Care must be taken all through the season not to hill up the beets or .break off" the leaves. Wo generally water our beets two to four times during the season and it usually takes about 20 to 30 days after the laBt watering before the beets are ready for harvesting. |