SUGAES AND OTHER CROPS 157 



soil where they will receive plenty of moisture at all 

 seasons. Before planting, the ground is dragged 

 or harrowed and rolled to pack it firmly. The beets 

 are planted with machines. Horse-power machines 

 plant four rows at a time. Since the sugar beet 

 needs about four or five months' time to grow to 

 the full size, it should be planted two or three weeks 

 before corn. (Fig. 85). 



Harvesting. In October the farmer takes a few 

 beets to the factory to be tested for the amount and 

 quality of juice. As beets increase in weight rap- 

 idly the last six weeks, it is well to delay harvesting 

 as long as is safe to avoid danger from frost. The 

 beets may be plowed loose eight or ten days before 

 removing from the ground. They are then pulled 

 by hand and the top cut off close to the root to 

 remove the matter that prevents the separating of 

 the sugar from the juice. The beets are then sent 

 to the factory. Europe produces larger crops of 

 sugar beets than any other part of the world. 

 ^ Rice. Eice furnishes the principal food of half 

 the human race. It first ,came from the East Indies, 

 but is now raised in many parts of the earth. It 

 was probably brought to America when the Caro- 

 linas were settled, and it is now the staple product 

 of South Carolina. There are two kinds of rice, the 

 upland rice and the lowland rice. Lowlgfnd rice was 

 first grown in places that were overflowed by the 

 tides, but irrigation is now used to raise this variety 

 in most of the Southern states. Upland rice does 



