180 THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



the percentage of failures on account of poor farming in this respect has been reduced 

 to nothing. In former years it was formidable 



"Sowing is done entirely with drills, sowing rows about 20 inches apart, seed being 

 furnished by the beet factory, and in the performance of this somewhat delicate operation 

 our farmers need no pointers from anybody, save in the matter of straight rows. Not 

 enough attention is paid to drilling straight rows. It is rather surprising that our farm- 

 ers, who are so straight in all other dealings, should be so crooked with their beet rows. 

 A great help in late sowings, say after the middle of May, fs the addition of V-shaped 

 irons to the drill, which push aside the dry surface of the soil and enable the seed to be 

 sown in moisture at a moderate depth. About ten pounds of seed are sown to the acre. 



"Thinning and Hoeing are usually contracted together with topping and loading 

 into the wagon at $1 per ton. There is a growing disposition on the part of farmers to 

 hire labor by the day and look after the field work personally. In this way many farm- 

 ers work their beets for as low as 70c per ton, and in one instance last year it was done 

 lor 55c per ton. The work was done better, and resulted in higher yield and increased 

 profit to the farmer. The contract system is a makeshift, which worked well when labor 

 was scarce, but should now be discarded, as labor is abundant and there is no good reason 

 for retaining it. 



"Spacing and thinning beets are important operations and should be done under 

 the eye of the farmer. Our beets are spaced from eight to 12 inches apart, according to 

 quality of land, and should bg all thinned before they are four inches high. Cultivating 

 and weed cutting between the rows by horse power has greatly increased of late years, 

 and saves an immensity of labor. Weed cutters are made to take two or four rows at a 

 time, and are drawn by one or two horses. I noticed one four-row weed cutter last sum- 

 mer that worked twelve acres per day. These implements are made by the farmers them- 

 selves, and work well when the drill rows are straight. The rule for cultivating between 

 rows in summer is to go as shallow as possible. Some few farmers practice hilling the 

 soil against the beets, but I have never observed any benefit to come from it. After the 

 leaves cover the ground all work on the field should cease until the beets are ripe. 



"Harvesting The farmer does not have to bother his head about the ripeness of his 

 crop the factory settles this point for him and orders the beets to be delivered as it may 

 require them. After the beets are ordered in, comes the plowing out. The plow used for 

 this purpose has two shares, which straddle the row to be plowed out. It is usually drawn 

 by two horses, and gives the soil and beets between the shares a slight lift, sufficient to 

 loosen the beets, which then remain standing in the soil, ready for the laborers to pull 

 them out by the leaves. The beet plow must be strongly made and firmly braced. The 

 top must be wide enough to allow the beet leaves to pass through without catching. If 

 any dead beet leaves are lying on the ground, it is advisable to fix two rolling cutters in 

 front of the plow, setting them so as to cut the ground to a depth of a couple of inches. 

 The plowing will then be smoother and will be easier on both horses and men. Beet 

 plowing is not well done unless every beet in the row is loosened without mutilation. 

 It is in plowing out that the advantage of straight rows is particularly noticeable, as it 

 is far easier to plow out a straight row than a crooked one. It is false economy to buy 

 or keep an imperfect plow. Our local blacksmiths make splendid plows, and, if you tell 

 them what you want, they will furnish an implement that will do perfect work. I have 

 often seen farm hands breaking off the roots of beets with imperfect plows or careless 

 plowing, and leaving two or three tons of such broken roots to the acre in the ground. 

 The parts of roots left in the ground are an absolute loss to the farmer, and if harvested 

 would pay for a new plow many times over in a season. 



"Topping of the beet should be done with one stroke of a knife. Here 12-inch 



