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Show 1 SUGAR BEETS B PROBLEMS IN BEET CULTURE. H J H. BufTum in Beet Sugar Gazette. I H There arc few sugar men but what Hi hope to sec the day when the sliding B scale becomes the prevailing method B ofrjpaymcnt for beets throughout this HP country. It is the one just system and Bs ii H eventually must prevail. Yet we arc B overlooking the advantages to be se- B cured through applying this same sys- B i tcm to other items in beet culture. H( Why the topping operation should H' not come under this rule is difficult to 1 sec though this theory has perhaps B never been advocated outside this dc- B partment. The present method of B payment is pernicious because it rcal- B ly '.encourages slip-shod service, and B the more hastily the laborer can get B B over his acreage, the quicker ins rc- B numeration will be won. "Extremely B poor topping of course is not tolcr- B atod, yet the work generally done, it B -is 'safe to say, is mediocre. But that B is ,not 'the point I am endeavoring to B make. If topping is paid for by the fl ton, ba,ck at the bunching, thinning B and w.ecding period, the laborer, if he H be the same individual, as he usually H is, will exert far greater care and pcr- B form more painstaking work if he lab- H ors with the knowledge that heavy H tonnage at harvest means .equally B weighty pay. This seems to be an H admirable solution for at least one H of the minor problems of both har- H vesting and earlier field practice also. H Bqt it is given a place here because it H has so important a bearing on the H subject in hand. Certainly no argu- H ment can be adduced showing why H p'ayment should be made' for labor H not performed, and yet the beet top- H per is getting just the same remun- H cration for six-tons-to-the-acrc work H as for a fifteen ton yield. H Harvesting means hauling. This H hasbccome a factor in the (beet indus- H try of no small importance, and its H serious consideration in many oases H spells success or failure. Not all lo- H calities enjoy the benefits of good H roads; and this specific problem in its H relation to the good roads proposition H may be looked upon as of great con- H sequence. Certainly the beet grower H lias- unsolved problems before him when he has merely produced an excellent ex-cellent crop and fails to give attention to the proposition of transporting his crop to the factory. It seems as if this phase of the subject must eventually, event-ually, if no other considerations contribute con-tribute to its influence result in elevating ele-vating beet land values to a high premium prem-ium in the immediate vicinity of the factory. Though it is scarcely believable, believ-able, nevertheless many instances have been witnessed where prospective prospec-tive land purchaser?, those whose intention in-tention was to -engage in active beet culture, gave no attention whatever to the matter of proximity to receiving receiv-ing station or factory dump; yet that consideration alone should have been respected as a prime factor. Hauling from a greater distance than two miles is so expensive that any other more economic method is probably worthy of adoption; at least some solution of the difficulty should 'be sought after by the growers themselves. them-selves. Where railroads do not ramify rami-fy in convenient directions, a scheme well worthy of trial, and recommended recommend-ed in these columns some months ago, is that of hauling with traction engines. en-gines. A great many tons can be transported in this manner, with but one or two men to the outfit, according accord-ing to whether or not the topography of the road requires the use of brakes. This system is in successful operation both in Washington state and in a part of the Kansas area, perhaps elsewhere. else-where. It is easy to see that the perfecting per-fecting of this industry in its entirety is closely associated with general farming conditions, and the line of demarkation between the affairs of the beet grower and general farmer is vague to say the least. The traction power forms an attractive at-tractive prospect for farmers who are located centrally to each other. The ideal arrangement is for grow s to pool their wagons at junctions with main highway, and at these points the wagons are made up into trains of six or more each. A fifty or sixty horse power engine com take care of this load, and make at least thirty miles per day over fair roads. Special gearing and connections between wagons wag-ons U probably necessary to insure relief of tension where uncvenness of ' road bed is experienced, but aside from this, ordinary farmi wagons may be used. The engine docs not wait at the dump for unloading, but immediately imme-diately returns with empties for a fill-up, fill-up, to find another train all made" up . and waiting at junctions. But two men, fireman and engineer, are required re-quired to man such an outfit, if roads are reasonably level. Just such an outfit as this has been at work for two seasons in Washington. It must be noted that this matter of transportation is widely applicable in its importance to farm crops in general, and is regarded as a prime factor among leading crop producers of the country. When it is remembered remem-bered that the average cost of hauling of the twelve principal crops of the United States is found to be $1.80 per ton, it is high time that earnest thought and attention be given to the problem. If those crops suitable to long hauls were produced on lands lyjng at the greatest distances, and vice versa, the difficulty would not appear ap-pear so grave. Improvements which would reduce the cost of hauling of the twelve principal crops one-tenth would effect a saving to the American farmers of seven millions of dollars. In sections where there is an abundance abund-ance of water and the surfaces arc sufficiently sloping, there is a strong tendency to adopt the fluming system of transporting beets from outlying districts to the factory. This has in instances proved extremely practical prac-tical and effective of great saving over all other methods. The method is mentioned here hot so mudh as a suggestion for adoption in general, but to note that an active improvement improve-ment in this direction is taking place. At the same time it is undoubtedly true that in several localities this plan might be adopted .with great economy as the result. A successful experiment is being conducted in Montana whereby beets -ill be Hum-ed Hum-ed a great distance down the Gallatin valley to the sugar factory. A distinct dis-tinct advantage developing through this experiment is the removal of all dirt, making tare at the factory practically prac-tically a minus quantity. Fluming in foreign lands, in Germany for instance is quite extensively practiced, and its development has much to do with the economy of harvesting, A favorite arrangement is to drive on top of the flume troughs, which run parallel and are several in number, the wagon standing so that both sides when lowered low-ered deliver into the running flumes. Thus the assistance of utiloaddrs is ; dispensed with. Where freight cars ; arc employed, the car straddles the j flume, built a corresponding width, and trap doors deliver the ibects be- ncath. This phase of beet tna-nspor- jj tation is receiving a good deal of attention at-tention in that country and elsewhere, wherever natural facilities favor it. Coming back to the beet field again, it may be noted that without doubt many mistakes arc made when it comes to determining the maturity w of the beet and in making analysis ! for sugar content. I have seen a field test 10 per cent content on the first day of October, and on the third j day of the same month give test, under un-der exactly the same method of 15 per cent. If this was due to a trick of nature, and I believe it was, and I not to variability of the method cm- 1 ployed, then arc there not chances untold in number of wrongly determining deter-mining the proper time to harvest? ' The farmer is instructed to pull his 1 beets, and pull he must. Perhaps two, three, five days more time for sunshine or the invisible chemist of nature to do his work, and a sugar content much higher in proportion if would result. There is a certain mo- 1 mentumi to the work of harvesting that carries things along at too swift i a pa.ee to permit of very many nice- i tics in the actual field work, and if foliage shows a sufficient tint of ycl- j low and droops a bit here and there, i it usually is ordered that that patch be pulled. I Probably what is regarded as the favorite and fairest test for analysis ? is to procure samples from four different dif-ferent portions of the patch select- 1 ed, these being ground together in the factory laboratory. Where such samples arc taken every day covering the logical period for maturity, ma-turity, and when foliage presents a timely change, the fairness of the test can hardiy be questioned; but when the sampling is done with considerable con-siderable variability, such practice must be regarded as loose and un-stisfactory. un-stisfactory. Another matter of considerable importance im-portance to the grower, likewise the factory, is the different methods of analysis in laboratory, this is entirely en-tirely outside the farmer's control, but has an important bearing upon his profits and credits. Frozen beets, siloed beets, those that are fresh from the field and those that have under- gone a degree of evaporation arc dissimilar dis-similar in their submission to standard tests, and the problem of fair analysis analy-sis mny still be regarded as not entirely en-tirely solved. n. |