THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



In diversified farming by irrigation lies tbe malvation of agriculture 



SUGAR BEETS. 



Extracts from Bulletin 63 Experiment 

 Station, Colorado: 



Mr. Frank Watrous, in charge of the 

 substation at Rockyford, grew beets in 

 1890, '91, and '92, and records the results 

 of his experiments in bulletin No. 21. 

 The season of 1890 was spent in groping 

 after facts, and the product, though en- . 

 couraging, was not large. The yield ob- 

 tained ranged from eight to seventeen tons 

 per acre. Some of these yields were from 

 half acre plots, others estimated from 

 ingle rows. 



In 1891 an experiment in irrigating 

 beets was made, from which Mr. Watrous 

 concludes that, in an ordinary season, one 

 irrigation during the growing season is 

 sufficient to produce the best results both 

 as to tonnage per acre and saccharine mat- 

 ter contained. Four plots of one-fourth 

 acre each were planted to Vilmorin beets. 

 Plot 1 was not irrigated; plot 2 was irriga- 

 ted once; plot 3 was irrigated twice; and 

 plot 4 was irrigated three times. The dates 

 of irrigation are not given. The results 

 are: 



Plot 1. Yield: 9 tons per acre. Sugar: 

 14.25 per cent. Purity: 80.5 per cent. 



Plot 2. Yield: 10.8 tons per acre. 

 Sugar: 15.2 per cent. Purity: 84.3 per 

 cent. 



Plot 3. Yield: 9.9 tons per acre. Sugar: 

 14.22 per cent. Purity; 79.5 per cent. 



Plot 4. Yield: 9.9 tons per acre. Sugar: 

 13.0 per cent. Purity: 76.0 per cent. 



In 1892 the plots were 1-1000 and | acre 

 each, four of the sixteen plots being I acre 

 each, four of the sixteen plots being i acre 



in area. The yields from the I acre plots 

 were 18 7 tons, 20.5 tons, 25.0 tons, and 

 25.7 tons per acre, and the sugar percent- 

 age 15.18, 16.7, 15.9, and 18.9. The co- 

 efficient of purity was between 82 and 85. 

 The yield from the 1-100 acre plots was 

 somewhat higher, as was to be expected, 

 the sugar content ranging from 13 to 15.8 

 per cent, and the coefficient of purity from 

 76 to 85. 



The plan of culture adopted as the re- 

 sult of the three years study is as follows: 

 After land had been plowed, harrowed, 

 and made quite smooth, even, and free 

 from lumps, stones, or trash, seed was 

 sown with an ordinary hand drill, sowing 

 eighteen pounds to the acre, covering an 

 inch or less in depth, in double rows one 

 foot apart, separated by a space two feet 

 wide. Then, with one horse and a shovel 

 plow, a trench was made in this space, the 

 dirt being thrown on both sides to finish 

 covering the seed. The rows are worked 

 over quickly with a rake or hoe, and the 

 seeding is complete. Beet seed requires 

 considerable moisture to produce germina- 

 tion, hence, in a dry spring, water may be 

 turned in these ditches and beets brought 

 forward, independent of dry weather. 



To facilitate irrigation, rows should not 

 be more than three hundred feet in length, 

 preferably less. It should not be neces- 

 sary to drench the upper end in order to 

 moisten the lower end. 



Proper cultivation consists in hand hoe- 

 ing or working with a fine-toothed cultiva- 

 tor, the surface of the ground being stirred 

 as soon after irrigation as practicable. 

 From experience at this Station it seems 

 safe to state that the more careful cultiva- 



