IRRIGATION OF FIELD CROPS. 24 1 



close Up to a row of potatoes, then the return furrow 

 on the other side throws the tubers out and they are 

 picked up by hand. After the transplanting is done 

 the roots go directly down to the hard surface of the 

 under soil, and the potato grows in an upright position 

 from that point. The Bermudas are the largest variety, 

 and the Nansemonds are the smaller ones, while a 

 most popular market variety is the Jersey Sweet. 



Sugar-Beets. — The seed-bed should be thoroughly 

 puh^erized, to kill the young weeds, just before plant- 

 ing. As soon as V.12 ground is warm the seed should 

 be planted two inches deep, in drills from sixteen to 

 twenty-four inches apart. If hand-planted, ten to fif- 

 teen pounds of seed to the acre is sufficient. If drilled 

 in, use fifteen to twenty pounds of seed. Any good 

 garden drill will do, and grain drills can be used by 

 closing some of the openings. The earth should be 

 pressed close to the seed by a following wheel with a 

 two-inch tire, on the principle of the press drills. The 

 depressed seed row a(5fs as a catch-basin for any slight 

 rainfall, and at the same time shelters the seed from 

 drying winds. Rolling the whole ground has proved 

 injurious, as it brings all the soil moisture to the vSur- 

 face to be swept away by the dry wind. Seed drilled 

 on ridges remains dry in the arid climate until the fur- 

 rows between are filled with irrigation water. Culti- 

 vation tends to uncover the tops of beets growing on 

 these ridges, and the uncovered portion is unfit for 

 sugar. 



If the ground be so dry that the seed must be 

 irrigated it should not be flooded, for thereby many 

 seeds will be washed away and the sprouting seeds 



