240 SUGAR BEETS AND OTHER ROOT CROPS 



mercial fertilizers are used, particularly where barnyard manure 

 is not available. The fertilizer should be composed chiefly of 

 phosphate 200 to 300 pounds per acre of acid phosphate may be 

 used. If suitable manure is applied no nitrate is required, but 



fifty to seventy-five pounds of 

 nitrate of soda per acre will aid 

 the young plants in making a 

 vigorous growth early in the 

 season. 



The soil should be very thor- 

 oughly prepared by deep tillage 

 the preceding fall. Early in the 

 spring it should be deeply tilled 

 with a disk harrow or maybe 

 cross -plowed. The seed bed 

 should be made very fine before 

 planting time. 



Planting. The seed is usually 

 drilled thickly in rows about 

 eighteen to twenty-four inches 

 apart. As the seed of the 

 beet is low in germination, the 

 seed is drilled much thicker 

 than the plants are to stand. 

 The so-called seeds are really 

 seed cases, each containing sev- 

 eral seeds. These reasons fully 

 explain why thinning of beet 

 fields is necessary . The drilling 

 of seed is done both by hand 

 machines and horse drills. The 

 rows are marked and the seed 

 drilled and covered at one opera- 

 nd tion. The depth of covering the 



FIO 170. The long form of sugar beet seed varies from one-half inch 



root. After harvest the top slice with leaves . . > , -, 



is cut off at the mark shown in the figure. The in Very HlOlSt SOll tO One and 



part above is fed to s D. A.) one _ half mches j n dry goiL 



fields are to be irrigated it is a common practice to drill two rows 

 about ten inches apart and then leave from twenty-seven to thirty 

 inches before drilling the next double row. This allows room for 

 irrigating furrows with wide aisles. 



