174 CULTUKE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 



phosphate, guano, fish-chum, hone-dust, leached ashes, or Stockbridge fertilizer. 

 Plow a little deeper than ever before. If the plow is followed by a subsoil plow, so as to 

 loosen what lies below to the depth of fifteen inches, without bringing it to the sur- 

 face, so much the better. Clods should be broken up by the harrow, and a smooth 

 Burface obtained. Land which was plowed andmanured last year is best. If sod land 

 is used, turn sod bottom up, and bury it as deep as possible ; thoroughly dress and pul- 

 verize the earth above the sod, leaving the sod to decay slowly below. We do not 

 advise a sod-crop for beets, yet in some cases good returns have been had. In 

 planting on sod land it would be well to plow twice in the same furrow, so as to bury 

 the sod deep. Thus you get rid of the weeds. Afterwards plow or harrow in the 

 manure and use superphosphate in the drills, so as to give the beets a fair start. 



EARLY CULTIVATION. 



After harrowing, as early as possible in May, get in the seed, so as not to let the 

 weeds get the start of the beets. Lay out the rows straight. Nail, under a board, 

 strips about 1 foot long, 2 inches high, and 1 inch thick, like runners under a sled ; 

 these strips should be at the distance the rows are to be apart, which may be as fol- 

 lows: Two 12-inch rows to begin with, followed by a 30-inch row, which is again 

 followed by two 12-inch rows ; and so alternate the one 30-inch row and the two 12- 

 inch rows. The board is fastened tightly to a common one-horse cultivator or some 

 other contrivance. If the strips do not cut deep enough to be easily distinguished, 

 get a stone, or something else heavy, on the rig. Allow the strip on one side to go in 

 the previously-made line. This arrangement is to secure easy cultivation ; the horse 

 to walk in the 30-inch row, and the cultivator to work at the same time the adjoining 

 row on each side, thus cultivating at one time 54 inches in the two 12-inch and one 

 30 inch rows. 



The field, thus prepared and marked, should be planted without unnecessary delay; 

 first, because the soil loses the moisture quickly on its surface, which is required for 

 germination of the beet seed ; and, secondly, because every hour's delay gives the 

 weeds a start over the crop. 



The seed laid by hand or drill should be placed at an even depth of one-half inch, 

 in no case over one inch deep. Planting by drill requires 14 pounds of seed per acre, 

 and to use less is very bad economy. 



Planting by hand requires less seed, but takes more time and labor. In planting 

 by hand, proceed as follows : Cut a small stick 8 or 10 inches long; keep this stick in 

 your left hand, in which you carry also a small bag with seed ; take in the fingers of 

 the right hand a few seeds and press them about once-half inch into the ground, 

 using the whole hand to cover them up. In alternating one 30-inch row with two 12- 

 inch rows, the planting in the row should be 8 inches apart, so as to secure 40,000 

 plants to one acre. The stick in your left hand will act as a guide, and, by using it 

 occasionally, you will soon plant very nearly alike. This method is the best for culti- 

 vation afterwards with a horse, and the cultivators for working the three rows atone 

 time will be furnished by the company at $12, and will save their cost the first year. 

 It will take about three hours to cultivate one acre, and one cultivator will do for six 

 neighbors. 



A second method to plant sugar beets is to either drill or hand-plant all the rows 24 

 inches apart, and to have the plants in the row 8 or 10 inches apart ; this will give 

 30,000 beets to the acre. The cultivation of one acre of beets by hand-cultivator or 

 shovel-hoe will take one man one-half day, and where this is preferred the distance 

 between rows should be two feet. 



As soon as the plants can be seen above ground, run the cultivator or horse-hoe be- 

 tween the rows. This first cultivation is necessary, not so much to destroy the weeds 

 as to break up the crust on the surface, in order to enable the air to penetrate the soil. 

 A light hoeing is fully as good as the running of a cultivator between the rows. Farm- 

 ers will understand the importance of this first early hoeing. It will greatly increase 

 the yield and will gain ten days' time in the maturity of the crop. 



