226 The Sugar-Beet in America 



ward. It is important to plant the beets well below the 

 surface of the soil. The crown should be covered with 

 a small quantity of soil to protect the budding top. The 

 rows being the same distance apart each way, the culti- 

 vator can be run in two directions and much hand labor 

 thereby saved. In many cases no attempt is made to 

 provide for two-way cultivation ; the beets are merely 

 planted every twenty to thirty inches apart in rows that 

 are about three feet apart. Sometimes a furrow is made 

 with a plow or deep cultivator and the beets planted in 

 it. 



The South Dakota Station ^ reports using a machine 

 for transplanting beets in 1916. It was an adapted 

 planter similar to those used in transplanting tobacco; 

 it was also used in transplanting alfalfa roots. "This is 

 a two-wheeled machine with one shovel to open the 

 furrows, two boxes to hold the beets and three seats, one 

 for the driver and two for the beet droppers. Wings draw 

 the dirt around the beets as they are dropped. A pair of 

 rollers to firm the dirt around the beets would make a 

 great improvement. About two or two and a half acres 

 a day was the rate achieved in the trials." It seems 

 probable that some machine will be devised to reduce the 

 great amount of hand labor required in planting mother 

 beets. 



Care of seed crop during growth. 



^^^len seed is raised under irrigation, it seems advisable 

 to apply water very soon after the beets are planted in 



» Shephard, J. H., SoiUh Dakota Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 173. 

 (1917), p. 615. 



