THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



tion, with the proper amount of water 

 when needed, the more sugar per acre. 



Bulletin No 36 discusses the genera* 

 outlook for the sugar industry in Colorado 1 

 The question of market for the sugar 

 which might be produced in the State is 

 answered as follows: ''To produce ^he. 

 sugar consumed by the inhabitants of Col- 

 orado would require five factories of large 

 size, employing two hundred men each, 

 who with their families, would represent 

 about four thousand people. It would re- 

 quire the growing of sugar beets on fifteen 

 thousand acres of land, and add more than 

 three hundred dollars to the income of each 

 of two thousand farms." 



Touching the question of profit, the 

 writer says: "If prices are such as to 

 make the business profitable anywhere, 

 then it will pay in Colorado." 



The irrigable portions of Colorado below 

 5000 feet in altitude and east of the Rocky 

 Mountains, possess the best possible cli- 

 mate for the growth of sugar beets, as do 

 many of the valleys of the western portion 

 of the State, but the parks of Colorado are 

 too cold for the sugar beet to be grown with 

 profit. 



The common cause of failure among be- 

 ginners is a lack of thorough preparation of 

 the soil. The plowing should be done in 

 the fall, subsoiling to fifteen or eighteen 

 inches. If this is done, a thorough har- 

 rowing just before planting will be all that 

 is needed. 



If the plowing is done in the spring it 

 should be delayed until just before plant- 

 ing. The planting is done with a drill. 

 An ordinary wheat drill may be used, but 

 there are special drills for planting beets. 

 Twenty-four inches is recommended as the 

 distance between rows, being none too far 

 apart for irrigation. 



The quantity of seed recommended to be 

 sown is at the rate of twenty pounds to the 

 acre. This quantity is large, but advisable 

 in order to get a full stand. The seed 

 should be put in about an inch and a half 



deep. If the ground is thoroughly wet a*- 

 the time of planting half an inch may suf- 

 fice. 



If the plowing is done in the spring 

 it may be advisable to irrigate the ground 

 thoroughly before plowing, and thus insure 

 a good supply of moisture in the subsoil. 



If, after the seed is sown, the weather 

 is so dry that the seed has to be "irrigated 

 up," the chances of a profitable crop are 

 slight. The seed can be successfully "ir- 

 rigated up" by running a furrow six inches 

 from the drill and allowing a small head of 

 water to run until it has wet the seed by 

 soaking sideways. 



The planting may be done from the last 

 of March till the middle of June. Sugar 

 beets sown the first of May will be ready 

 for harvesting about the first of October. 



The first cultivation should take place as 

 soon as the plants are up enough to enable 

 one to follow the row. Whatever imple- 

 ment is used, it should merely scratch the 

 surface of the ground, leaving it level and 

 killing the small weeds without throwing 

 dirt onto the young plants. The weeds 

 must be kept down. The ground should 

 be cultivated after each irrigation to level 

 the ground and make a dirt mulch on top 

 to preserve the moisture. 



The beet crop in Colorado will need one, 

 and possibly two or three, irrigations. The 

 last irrigation should be given about six 

 weeks before the crop is mature. In 1895 

 a heavy rain in September kept the beet 

 crop in full growth, until frost, and pro- 

 duced a crop with much less than the usual 

 amount of sugar. 



The plants should be thinned when they 

 have four leaves, leaving but one plant in 

 a place. The distance between plants 

 chould be eight to ten inches. There is 

 generally but little difference in the weight 

 of the crop in cases where the beets stand 

 six, eight, and ten inches apart. It is 

 easy to grow beets weighing five pounds 

 each, where the soil is rich, by thinning to 

 twelve inches, but such beets are inferior 



