RAISING SUGAR BEETS BY IRRIGATION. 



IT has been alleged that beets produced by means 

 of irrigation for the Lehi, Utah, factory during the 

 past season contained less saccharine matter than 

 those produced elsewhere without irrigation. While 

 it may be technically true in this particular case, 

 that the irrigated beets did not assay so rich in 

 sucrose as those produced in California, without the 

 aid of artificial moisture, it cannot with reason be al- 

 leged that sugar beets may not be successfully pro- 

 duced by means of irrigation. The sugar beet, like 

 other plants, requires for its proper growth and ma- 

 turity a certain amount of moisture. Whether this 

 be supplied by natural processes through the usual 

 rainfall, or whether properly applied by artificial 

 means can scarcely make a radical difference with 

 the plant itself. It depends upon the appliances for 

 delivering the water at the proper time in suitable 

 volume, and upon the good judgment of the ir- 

 rigator. 



It is easy to use too much water in the production 

 of crops. Indeed, when water is plentiful and easily 

 obtainable, the common practice is to use an excess 

 rather than too little. This was no doubt the case at 

 Lehi last year, and it is not at all improbable that the 

 farmers learned a valuable lesson in this connection 

 from the lower price received for their product, due 

 to too much water and too little sugar. A few years 

 of further experience will no doubt indicate to the 

 Utah beet growers the proper quantity of water to be 

 applied to their fields, and the proper times to apply 

 it. In this case they will enjoy a distinct advantage 

 over their brother growers in non-irrigable sections; 

 for while the latter must take chances with the ever 

 precarious rainfall, the others may regulate the grow- 

 ing of their crops with ease and comparative cer- 

 tainty. Recent experiments in Colorado under irri- 

 gation corroborate the views here expressed, as well 

 as those heretofore uttered in the columns of THE IR- 

 RIGATION AGE, relative to this general subject. Near 

 Grand Junction in that State, experiments with fifty 

 acres of beets were tried during the past year, and 

 the results were reported to the department of agri- 

 culture by Mr. C. E. Mitchell, of Grand Junction. 

 From the beets produced on the fifty acres, compris- 

 ing a variety of soils and conditions of culture and 

 irrigation, twenty- four tests were made by the experts 

 of the Lehi factory in Utah. The amount of sugar 

 found in these beets was seen to vary considerably, 



and to range from 10.4 per cent, to 17 per cent. The 

 average of the 24 samples assayed was 13.9 per 

 cent. While the average was not high, yet it made a 

 merchantable beet, and the fact that so high a sugar 

 content as 17 per cent, was found in some samples, 

 shows that the sugar need not be leached out of the 

 beets by too much irrigation during the period of 

 growth. The average yield of this Colorado crop is 

 given at fifteen tons per acre, and the cost of produc- 

 tion $45 per acre. While it must be conceded that 

 this could not have been a highly profitable crop, yet 

 it points to reasonable probabilities of lucrative re- 

 turns, when the conditions of production are better 

 understood and applied. In this connection it may 

 not be out of place to quote the language of Profes- 

 sor H. W. Wiley and Dr. Walter Maxwell, of the 

 department of agriculture, in a recent report pub- 

 lished by authority of Secretary Morton. 



RELATION OF IRRIGATION TO SUGAR BEET 

 CULTURE. 



" In former reports attention has been called to the 

 probable practical value of irrigated lands for the 

 production of sugar beets. The high fixed charges 

 which must necessarily attach to all irrigated lands 

 render it imperative that some crop should be grown 

 capable of intensive culture and of yielding large 

 financial returns. There is no crop which offers so 

 many advantages of this kind as the sugar beet. 

 The growth of potatoes or vegetables for home 

 market, or of any crop of this kind usually produced 

 by intensive culture, must necessarily be restricted 

 to a limited area, but the comparatively unlimited 

 expansiveness of the market for sugar renders it 

 possible to devote practically all of the irrigated 

 lands which are likely to be recovered in many years 

 to the production of the sugar beet. 



"In view of the magnitude of the interests involved 

 a recommendation for the establishment of an experi- 

 mental station for beet culture in an irrigated region 

 ought to carry great weight with Congress. In fact, 

 it is highly desirable that the experimental results 

 which are so necessary to the proper development of 

 the industry should be obtained under conditions 

 varying as widely as possible. The production of 

 beets in a climate as fickle and capricious as that 

 of Nebraska is well illustrated by the experimental 

 station at Schuyler. The production of beets without 

 irrigation and without rain in the valleys of California 

 should also be the subject of experimental study." 



