Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets 39 



mer temperature is suitable, provided planting is not 

 begun until the soil is warm enough to insure good ger- 

 mination and a rapid growth while the plants are young 

 and tender. Hot weather during this period is unde- 

 sirable, since this condition makes the young plants less 

 able to overcome the shock resulting from the disturb- 

 ance they receive at thinning time. 



A severe frost just as the plants are coming up is al- 

 most fatal, and replanting is usually necessary. At this 

 time they are most sensitive to frost. Later, after a few 

 leaves have been developed and a number of healthy roots 

 sent into the soil, they become much more hardy. In 

 the fall of the year the beet can stand rather severe frost 

 without injury, very much more than can be endured by 

 corn. 



Severe freezing in the fall is likely to cause trouble by 

 freezing the beets in the ground, in which case it is very 

 difficult and sometimes impossible to harvest them, and 

 almost complete loss results. In order to be entirely safe, 

 an area raising sugar-beets should have about five months 

 in which severe freezing does not occur. Slight frosts 

 during this time, particularly in the fall, may do no dam- 

 age. The short season in the cooler parts of America 

 prevents the proper ripening of the beets, resulting 

 in a low sugar-content and consequently poor milling 

 quality. 



The high temperatures of the southern part of the 

 United States have a tendency to cause a vegetative 

 growth producing good yields, but the beets are poor in 

 quality. In some regions having a high temperature at 

 certain seasons, beets are planted at a time that will en- 



