338 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



to beets averaging less than two pounds for 

 sugar, and also for stock feeding. 



In thinning, the plants are cut out by 

 means of a sharp hoe, leaving bunches of a 

 few plants each, which must be thinned to 

 a single plant by hand. 



The soil of Colorado is generally rich 

 enough to grow several crop 3 of beets with- 

 out fertilizing, but it must eventually be 

 fertilized in order to maintain the yield. 



In case alfalfa ground is broken up beets 

 should not be grown on it the first season, 

 but rather a crop of wheat. This will put 

 the soil in better condition and will rot the 

 alfalfa roots. It is not advisable to grow 

 beets more than two years in succession on 

 the same ground. Alkali ground may be 

 an exception. 



If barnyard manure is used to fertilize 

 he soil, the beets can advantageously fol- 

 low a crop of corn. 



The best varieties are the Kleinwansle- 

 bener and Vilmorin. 



The harvesting is done either by means 

 of a beet puller or by plowing a furrow 

 near the beets and pulling them by hand- 



The topping is done by means of a heavy 

 knife. Topping machines have, as yet. 

 not been successful. 



The factories work on beets hauled di- 

 rectly from the field up to the time freez- 

 ing weather sets in. Beets to be used in 

 the latter part of the season should be pro- 

 tected from freezing; for this purpose they 

 may be put into shallow pits and covered 

 wkh straw and dirt, either near the factory 

 in pits provided by them, or in the field. 



The cost of growing an acre of beets va- 

 ries in different parts of the country, the 

 size of area planted, the condition of the 

 ground, etc. The range is from thirty to 

 forty-five dollars, or from two to four dol- 

 lars per ton. 



About eleven tons of sugar beets per 

 acre at four and a half dollars per ton is a 

 fair average crop, with a possibility of a 

 much larger yield. Compared with alfalfa 



or wheat, the return seems large, but much 

 more labor is required to produce it. 



Sugar beets have a high value for stock 

 feeding. They have been fed at the Col- 

 lege with good results, except where fed to 

 steers. The beets seem to be too watery 

 for profitable feeding to steers where the 

 feeding is done out of doors in cold weather. 

 It is advisable not to feed them to fatten- 

 ing lambs for the last six weeks before 

 marketing, grain being preferable at this 

 period, so that the flesh and fat may har. 

 den for shipment. 



The tops are good feed for all classes of 

 farm animals. They may be fed at once, 

 as soon as harvested, or put in a silo and 

 fed through the winter. 



The next record of results occurs in bul- 

 letin No. 42. In 1897 we made an effort to 

 enlist persons in different parts of the 

 State in the raising of sugar beets. The 

 Station has already established beyond any 

 doubt the adaptability of both the soil and 

 climate of this section of the State to the 

 cultivation of the sugar beet, and also of 

 that of the Arkansas valley, where the sub- 

 station at Rockyford is located, but no co- 

 operative work, including all sections of 

 the State, had been entered upou. The 

 Station received from the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington, five hundred 

 pounds of beet seed, and from A. Keil- 

 holz, Quedlinburg, Germany, two hundred 

 pounds. This seed was sent to six hun- 

 dred and eleven persons residing in forty- 

 seven counties of the State. Most of the 

 analyses of these beets were made by the 

 Department of Agriculture in Washington. 

 The State was divided into five sections, as 

 follows: 



1. The valley of the South Platte and 

 its tributaries 



2. The Divide south of Denver, where- 

 crops are raised without irrigation. 



3. The valley of the Arkansas. 



4. The valley of the Grand. 



5. The San Luis valley. 



The varieties used were the Kleinwan. 



