178 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



Beet harvesting is now done cheaply by means of implements 

 and machines of California design and construction, which either 

 loosen or completely dislodge the beet. Topping, or removing the 

 leaves and all the green part of the root grown, is done with knives, 

 though inventors have made some promising progress in machines 

 for this work. 



The Beet Season. As already said, the beet is an all-the-year 

 plant in California. Planting may be done whenever the local soil 

 and moisture conditions warrant. Some planting is done as early 

 as February in regions of light rains, and the sugar factory season 

 opens in southern California in July. In regions of heavier rains 

 planting is done in April and May. In all regions there is consid- 

 erable length to the sowing season, so that succession in ripening is 

 possible, where there are lands of different elevations and degrees of 

 moisture. It is possible to keep the factories in operation nearly 

 the whole year without great storage of beets, but this has not been 

 clone so far. 



Yield. Very large yields of sugar beets have been reported 

 with perfect truth, and larger sugar percentages have been attained 

 in California than anywhere else in the world, but average state- 

 ments are a better guide than extremes. The statistics gathered by 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture show that the ten factories ope- 

 rating in 1911-12 worked up 1,037,283 tons of beets which were har- 

 vested from 99,545 acres of land. The price for the beets was, on the 

 average, $5.54 per ton, and the average yield was 10.42 tons per 

 acre. The average gross return to the grower was, therefore, $57.72 

 per acre. The cost of production is variously estimated at from 

 $30 to $40 per acre, leaving a profit of from $17 to $27 per acre. Of 

 course, some make much more than the average. There is quite as 

 large an opening for good farming in beet growing as in any other 

 crop, and the beet seems to know as clearly when it is well off and 

 gathers sweets like a bee. 



Beet Pulp for Stock Feed. The use of beet pulp for stock feed- 

 ing has increased rapidly during the last few years, and promises to 

 be as popular here as in Europe. It is fed fresh and is put down in 

 silos. It is very cheaply siloed, because it packs down readily and it 

 seals itself up from contact with the air by the formation of a sur- 

 face crust. There are, however, many economic questions concern- 

 ing the cost of the pulp, either as it comes from the factory, or dried 



