BEETS 



601 



the field or garden; or it may be sown in 

 the rows where the beets are to grow. In 

 this case it should be sown in sufficient 

 quantities, so that the plants may be 

 thinned to the proper distance apart. In 

 the garden, the seeds are generally sown 

 in drills, about 15 inches apart, and the 

 plants thinned to about 8 inches. The 

 stock beets and sugar beets, growing to 

 much larger size, must be planted farther 

 apart. The ground should be rich and 

 loose, because the beet is a heavy feeder, 

 and requires a fertile soil. In the arid 

 regions where irrigation is practiced, 

 where the alkali leaches from the soil and 

 is deposited on the low lands, it has been 

 demonstrated that sugar beets and stock 

 beets will stand a much larger content 

 of alkali, than most other crops; there- 

 fore lands that have been abandoned for 

 general farming, because they were too 

 strong in alkali to grow crops successful- 

 ly, have proven to be valuable for the 

 growing of sugar beets. 



Tarieties 



Eclipse, Edmund Blood Turnip. Crosby's 

 Egyptian. Blood Red, Dreer Excelsior. 



Gr.\XVII.LE Lo^VTHEB 



Sugar Beet Growing Under Irrigation 



C. O. TOWNSEND 



Pathologist, Cotton and Truck Disease 

 and Sugar Plant Investigations 



Introduction 



The present sugar beet belt of the 

 United States, that is, the area within 

 which the soil and climatic conditions 

 admit of the successful production of 

 sugar beets for the manufacture of sugar, 

 extends entirely across the northern por- 

 tion of this country. The present south- 

 ern boundary of this area is a some- 

 what indefinite and irregular line that 

 may be said to extend from Virginia on 

 the east to the southern part of Cali- 

 fornia on the west. Efforts are being 

 made to extend this line farther south, 

 thereby increasing the productive sugar 

 beet area. This can undoubtedly be ac- 

 complished with an increased knowledge 

 of the requirement of the sugar beet plant 

 combined with its wide range of adapt- 



ability. As it is at present this belt is 

 capable of maintaining hundreds of sugar 

 beet mills, the output of which would 

 supply this country with the millions of 

 pounds of sugar required for home con- 

 sumption. A study of the great variety 

 of soil and climatic conditions under 

 which sugar beets thrive illustrates and 

 emphasizes the wonderful adaptability of 

 this remarkable plant to the wide range 

 of conditions under which it may profit- 

 ably be produced. 



This article will be confined to a con- 

 sideration of the conditions and cultural 

 methods employed in those areas where 

 there is an insufficient precipitation for 

 the profitable production of sugar beets, 

 namely, the central, western and south- 

 western portions of the United States. 



Selection of Soil 



In the irrigated portion of the sugar 

 beet belt there is a great variety of soils, 

 varying from the distinctly sandy type 

 through the sandy and clay loams, the 

 silt, and volcanic ash to the heavy black 

 adobe. In the selection of soil for sugar 

 beet culture it is safe to say that any of 

 the soil types that are capable of pro- 

 ducing good crops of other kinds will 

 produce satisfactory beets. 



The principal factors to be considered 

 are the physical condition of the soil, 

 the way in which it has been previously 

 handled, and the climatic conditions. 

 Much more depends upon these factors 

 than upon the kind or type of soil to 

 be used. The physical condition of the 

 soil depends to a considerable extent 

 upon the previous crops and the way in 

 which the soil has been handled. The 

 soil should be well supplied with humus, 

 not only to Insure its fertility but to im- 

 prove its water-holding capacity. The 

 previous cropping should have been such 

 that the ground is in good tilth and rea- 

 sonably free from pests that are capable 

 of injuring sugar beets. The soil should 

 be well drained, either naturally or ar- 

 tificially, in order to prevent water-log- 

 ging, and the ground should be kept 

 sweet and at the same time free from an 

 excess of alkali. Most of the western 

 soils are well supplied with lime, but an 



