134 The Sugar-Beet in America 



the land was so dry as to necessitate irrigating the seed- 

 bed, it was judged better to irrigate before seeding than 

 immediately after. 



Knight, 1 in Nevada, concluded that "fall-plowed land 

 sometimes requires an application of water before seed- 

 ing/' but a poor stand generally results from an irrigation 

 immediately after planting. Where spring watering is 

 necessary, it should be done as early as possible, and when 

 the land is sufficiently dry, should be deeply cultivated. 

 He found that where beets received no irrigation until 

 they failed to revive at night from the wilting of the day, 

 an unsatisfactory crop resulted. 



Knorr, 2 at Scottsbluff in Nebraska, secured the best 

 results when beets were irrigated at such times as to 

 keep the plants in good growing condition from the 

 tune of thinning until about three weeks before harvest. 

 The irrigations should be in moderate amounts and the 

 soil never so dry that the plants suffer for lack of moisture. 

 He found it desirable to cultivate the beets to break the 

 crust by irrigating as soon as the soil became dry enough. 

 Sugar-beets receiving three irrigations during the growing 

 season gave a yield of 1.6 tons to the acre more if they 

 also received an irrigation the previous fall, than those 

 receiving water only in the growing season. 



The author, 3 in order to determine the critical periods 

 in the life of the sugar-beet for water, divided the life of 

 the plant into four stages of growth and added water in 



1 Knight, C. S., Nev. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 75, and Ann. Rpt. for 

 1915. 



2 Knorr, F., Neb. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 141. 



Harris, F. S., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 156. 



