100 THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Water will not stop the beets from ripening, that is, unless the land is wet and clayey, 

 -and of course a person should know better than to water such land late in the season. 

 Beets that have been well watered will not be affected nearly so much by the late 

 ;storms as those that have not been well watered. My experience is that beets need 

 some alkali, but I do not think that very strong alkali land i, good for them. There 

 is naturally more or less alkali in all our land, unless it is the light, loamy soil. Beets 

 like manure. Even here in Utah, all our land needs manure for beets. Of course a 

 person can go to an extreme, but as a rule all our lands need manuring. There is one 

 thing more about preparing land for beets : I am sure that many of our people tramp 

 their land too much. Some of it becomes packed very heavy before the beets are put 

 in. After the beets have come up the land cannot be cultivated too much." 



We may add that frequent and thorough culture is the best substitute for irriga- 

 tion. With it, the beet will stand quite severe drouth. During the great drouth of 

 '94, in the valley of the Platte, Nebraska, beets stood the drouth better than corn 

 -did, for tne subsoil is of sand and the water is only 10 to 15 feet below the surface of 

 the ground, so that the roots of the beets can almost penetrate to the water. 



HARVESTING. 



It requires about four and one-half to five months after planting to procure ripe 

 beets, although in California the time varies from 120 to 160 days. After they have been 

 in the ground that length of time, and the outer leaves turn yellow and die down, it is 

 an indication that the beets are ripening. The maximum of sugar and purity is usual- 

 ly obtained during the month of October over much of the country where ordinarily se- 

 vere winters are experienced, but in the Southwest and California, maturity on moist 

 .and late lands may not be reached until considerably later. The factory usually sam- 

 ples several fields before advising growers to enter upon the general harvest. As the 

 beets increase in tonnage mostly during the last six weeks of their growth, the har- 

 vesting with full force should not be started too early. On the other hand, the beets 

 1 must be out of the ground before hard freezing weather, as alternate freezing and 

 thawing injures the sugar content. In case of a severe freeze before harvest is com- 

 pleted, it may be best to leave the balance of the roots in the ground for a few days 

 until normal weather is restored, as the quick thawing out of the beets might seri- 

 ously impair their sugar content. 



The beets may be plowed loose from 8 to 10 days before removing from the 

 ground, using a plow with a thin blade, which splits the soil between the rows. In- 

 stead of the share it has a narrow blade in the nature of a subsoil point, enough to 

 carry it deep into the ground. The use of the plow avoids the injury to the beet 

 caused by spades, hoes or shovels, and it is then easier also to remove the b^et plant 

 from the hard soil. Treated in this manner, the roots ripen and gain in weight and 

 sugar; the earth adheres less to the root and can be shaken off with ease. In Ne- 

 braska, a two-horse puller is used (Page 105) which loosens the beets, but leaves them 

 in the ground. Whatever method is employed, the tops are taken hold of by boys, 

 who pull the beets and throw them into piles. Another set of boys cuts off the tops 

 with a beet knife, and for this purpose, the point of an old scythe set in a handle is 

 about as good a tool as one can use, or a corn knife. The topping is best accom- 



