CHAPTER X 

 IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE 



THE sugar-beet plant responds readily to a favorable 

 moisture condition in the soil. It cannot be classed as 

 either drought-resistant or a water lover; it requires an 

 intermediate amount of moisture similar to that de- 

 manded by such crops as potatoes and the grains. The 

 amount of labor expended on a crop of beets is so great 

 that every effort should be made to maintain the most 

 favorable moisture-content in the soil in order that the 

 yield of the crop may justify the expense necessary to 

 raise it. The practical methods of affecting the soil 

 moisture are by irrigation water where the rainfall is not 

 sufficient, and by drainage on land that is too wet. 



IRRIGATION 

 (Plates XII, XIII; Figs. 13-22) 



Beets adapted to irrigation farming. 



Most of the sugar-beets raised in America are produced 

 with the aid of irrigation water. Michigan is the only 

 important beet-producing state in the United States that 

 is not in the irrigated region. The beet-sugar industry 

 was started in the humid part of the country, but it made 

 no great success till it was carried to irrigated lands. The 



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