MICHIGAN BEET SUGAR 395 



follow it. The time of seeding is a question of more or less impoi-tance, 

 alTlutufih our icsults so far give us a range of fully one month when 

 it is equally safe 1o sow the seed. The earliest seedings, and they may 

 be made in tliis State as early as April 15, are usually more satisfactory 

 than those at the extreme late end of the season. If the beets under 

 one management can be sown at several ditTcrent dates there will follow 

 the advantage of a ])rolonged })eriod for the thinning, cultivation and 

 it would be expected, the harvesting. In this locality it has proven 

 safe to sow as late as the first of June, and occasional seedings later 

 than that have given good results. The tenth to the fifteenth of May, 

 however. Avould probably be considered an average date for seeding. 

 The (juestion as to the distance apart to make the rows has been under 

 experimentation for a number of years, and still remains in a somewhat 

 unsettled state. It is safe to say, however, that from eighteen to twenty- 

 one inches will be the standard, and that the adherants to the various 

 distances will be subject to individual taste. A depth of three-fourths 

 of an inch has proven the most satisfactory, and drills that can be ac- 

 curately gauged to an even depth, ranging from one-half to one inch, 

 will be the most i»opular. 



There is, ])erhai»s, no question connected with sugar beet seeding 

 that has commanded more attention than that relating to the quantity 

 of seed. It seems to be a misfortune that such a large quantity of 

 stigar beet seed has to be wasted, for if every seed were planted in the 

 right jilace, allowing for the usual percentage of germination, two 

 ]iounds per acre would i)robably sutfice. Yet the experience of those 

 who have grown sugar beets for a great nuudxM- of years, indicate 

 that not less than fifteen j»ounds to the acre is a safe limit, while many 

 experienced growers are using twenty, and even twenty-five j)ounds per 

 acre. So far as our experience has gone, any attempt to economize on 

 the quantity of seed by using less than the regulation fifteen pounds 

 l)er acre has resulted generally in a financial loss. 



About twenty-five or thirty days after seeding, depending entirely 

 ujKin the weather, comes the most important of all the operations con- 

 nected with growing the crop. The beets at this time begin to show 

 their fouirh leaf, and if ])roperly seeded show a continuous row which 

 must be ihinned so that only one beet will stand in each six or eight 

 inches of the row. 



\\'hile under skillful management a hoe may be used to remove a large 

 number of the snr])lus beets, each beet must be carefully exanuned, 

 the best one in every six or eight inches left, and the remaining smaller 

 ones i-emoved by hand, 'i'liis ojK'ralion is peifoinied largely by chil- 

 dren and wonuMi, and is done most profitably by ]>lacing a large gang, 

 say fifteen or twenty, undei- the care of a skillful foreman. Where 

 beet tields are situated ne;ir l;ii-ge cities, the ]troblem of securing help 

 for this work is at once solved. There is always jdenty of help to be 

 found iiiuong the boys and grils, and even women of the laboring classes, 

 who are anxious for this opportunity to go out in the country and earn 

 for a shoii jx'iiod the good wages that are jtaid for this kind of work. 

 Large wiigons and omnibusses are loaded with beet thinners every 

 morning, carried out to the beet fields and brought back again at night. 

 AVhere this kimi of labor cannot be obtained the nund)er of acres any 



