212 



ARID AGRICULTURE. 



IRRIGATING 

 SEED 



HARROWING 



push hard enough to break the crust so that the 

 plants may get through. The importance of a 

 good thick stand of beets cannot be over-esti- 

 mated. In this lies the profit. It costs no more 

 to grow, and little more to harvest, a crop of 30 

 tons per acre than it does a crop of 10 tons. The 

 one crop yields a profit of $60 to $70 per acre, 

 the other but pays the rent of the land and cost 

 of growing. 



If the ground is dry when the beets are 

 planted, don't wait long for a rain, but turn on 

 the water. The beets will be coming up in ten 

 days or two weeks. The soil is likely to bake if 

 irrigated, but you can follow by another irriga- 

 tion, or if the plants are up so the rows can be 

 seen, start the cultivator and use the horse "hoes" 

 and "duck feet," or the "spiders/ 7 running the 

 hoes as close to the rows as possible. 



Some practice harrowing to break tne crust. 

 This should never be done lengthwise of the row, 

 for a harrow tooth getting in the row will drag 

 out the beets for several feet. Harrowing is a 

 bad practice ; it injures the stand and kills beets 

 in many places where it is desirable that they 

 should grow. Don't harrow your beets, use the 

 cultivator. 



When the plants show four to six leaves the 

 thinning should begin. The quicker the farmer 



