314 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ing on the very edge of the furrow. The beets were then pulled by hand, 

 the tops wrenched off and the roots thrown in piles, which were weighed 

 and hauled to the pit to be stored for winter feeding. Owing to the deep 

 subsoiling and thorough preparation of the ground, the roots were found 

 to have grown almost entirely covered with soil, the tops alone above the 

 surface. Few beets exceeded three pounds in weight and the bulk of the 

 crop averaged not far from two and one-half pounds. The time required 

 for harvesting was, per acre, 4.6 hours for man and team, and 130.75 

 hours for a man. 



The total amount of labor expended on the beets is summed up in 

 the following table, which gives separately the hours of team and hand 

 work per acre: 



The hand labor in harvesting was performed by boys at eight cents 

 an hour. The 79.15 hours spent in hoeing and thinning was done by men 

 at twelve and one-half cents an hour. The team work is reckoned at 

 twenty-five cents an hour for man and team. At these prices the cost of 

 labor for growing an acre of beets was $29.40. 



The yield of the beets by varieties and by acre plots was as follows: 



Pounds . 

 Plot 8, Wohanka, .45 acre 10,627 



" " Kleinwanzlebener Improved, .55 acre 14,123 



Total for Plot 8 24,750 



Plot 9, Original Kleinwanzlebener, .75 acre _ 20,523 



" " Government Kleinwanzlebener, .25 acre 6,412 



Total for Plot 9 26,935 



Plot 10, La Plus Richp, .80 acre _ 23,364 



" " Government Kleinwanzlebener, .20 acre 5,904 



Total for Plot 10 29,268 



Plot 11, Government Kleinwanzlebener, 1 acre 32,327 



Average yield per acre, 28,328 pounds. 



