OCR Text |
Show ;B Meteorological Requisite in . Sugar- ' Beet Development. M . Wo constantly rond that certain agii- M ' -cultural centres claim that 1 hey pro - -within the so-called sugar belt of given Mm , Jiumber of degrees of heat and rainfaM, 'mm n V - -which aro taken as standaids in the l - "United States. Portions of Arizona and M California liavo been shown to bo very 3m ' startling exceptions to tho standards tl 'admitted. It must bo. understood that il t tho first reqliHito for susnr elaboration ilj ' in the beet is light, and experience lias I many times proven beyond cavil that .1 this sugar formation completely disap- VJ(J ' pears when light is suppressed; for ' tne" ner0 '8 no lo1S4Jr decomposition fl of tho carbonic acid of ilio nr and tlio jjlik leaves do not then in their ppecrnl flk laboratory handle the carbon which "fa to ' i. bo subsequently turn till or transformed l -into sugar. Tho lfat development , genurally coi responds all things being 'I equal to continued sunshine, and thoie I roots which bslong lo 'va ratios with II outspread leaves aro tho richest in l -sugar. Many European authorities I admit that there uio throe periods for lu the sugar beet's development : lirct, If from the time of planting to the end 0 Wfr July ; second,' from the ond of July until If m thocoinmuuccmen of Septembei ; and I third, from the last period up to the timu of harvesting. Tho sugar elabo- - ration generally occurs during the . ' ( neccond period; it is than that most of :lw..... 'tuo neftt nm J'SUt aro at the disposarl of M i lyi'itfOWHiPl i'lJUIillli lilli'ifirf'-rolweukfl-of MtMjk, -? " majrt .. . .i "',""' p Piil I -Tiff r'aij,ir. f " Soptombor the maximum 'is i eaemkif? MV and this in most cases corresponds to a T K period when the-days are shorter and m ' - the thermometer commences to fall. ' -During tho first stages great activity of I - tho beet's growth is most desirable; for it can then better lesist attacks of insects and variations of the weather SA fact most frequently overlooked Is that if tho leaves of beets have lapidly reached largo demonsions they tend to II smother tho weeds of tho eiownd be- f" tween or in the rows; tardy growth v means considerable booing and ' use of the cultivator. Tho moisture of tho soil or inches of rainfall aro gioat essentials. Experiments extending over a period 5iT -of yeais show that the yiold per acre of 1 ' -n crop of beets depends upon the total ' degrees of heat during tho first threo I - ; months after planting. Consequently, tfcr , if tho sowing has been dono in April, i IK "" one knows wiMi considerable app'oxi- mation what the yiold wHl be by tho i . middle of July. If tho total of average ' temperatures, night and day for each of t . V thosa months should bo only 110 Fahr., $,' ' ' " the yield will be small. When the Lf - 7 . grcato3t amouut ofsupar has been 1 't formed it is important tha the bet retain or keep it stored up until needed ; ato rains, or oven irrigation, ivsult always in second growth ; new leaves aro formed at tho expense of the carbo- j hydrates, which represent tho reservoir M '' of fool U)v future use ; Mio new sugar v olabora'ion having subsided, there is a, docreaso of that already formed. Ex-" Ex-" fcesaivoly dry or cold weather n month LA ".W "before harvesting means, upon general t fei principles, rich beets ; or in other words, "? u ,",'V' .this sugar percentage varies inversely with tho tomporaturo alul rainfall dur ing tljo period of Septembor 15th to O-utober 16th. However, there aro examples of considerable moment where F " tho torn porature has been comparatively . " Jiigh during tho poriod in question, yet .the beets woro rich in sugar, but this Vas also duo to tho excessiyo drought then'provalling. Whn these facts be ' i r considered as a. whole it stands to reason that it is n mistake to nt tempt sugar-beet sugar-beet cultivation Jn thoqe climates wheie there ib more tain than sunshine, for light h a requisite at every period of the beetdevelopni'Mit; moisture plays its most impoitmu role at first, and is most detrimental at the end, The plant-in growing needs moisture, but when llt-, from a sugar basis.'lias ccaeed, then it is a source of saccharine destruction. The Sugar Beet. |