106 THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



is about four rods wide and six rods long, each silo would thus contain the beets from 

 24 square rods (about one-seventh of one acre). To prevent unnecessary handling it 

 is advisable to first pull out the beets from the middle of the marked 24 square rods, 

 placing them in such shape as to make a vacant place in the center about one rod 

 wide and two rods long, then to pull the balance of the beets, throwing them into a 

 windrow close to and surrounding this vacant spot. When this is finished, top the 

 beets (at the base of the bottom leaves) with one stroke of the knife and throw them 

 in the vacant place, making a pile four feet wide and not over three feet high, the 

 length of the pile depending, entirely upon the yield. After all the beets are topped 

 and piled up in proper shape, cover the pile with six inches of dirt, being careful not 

 to have any leaves or straw on the 1 beets or mixed with them, and also to leave wide 

 open a hole one foot in diameter, every five feet on top of the pile (at least two in 

 each pile), for ventilation, as beets will sweat some after siloing. 



"It is generally advisable not to put much more than six inches of dirt over the 

 beets in October, but to keep them free from frost you should cover the silo before 

 the weather gets cold, say about ten days or two weeks after harvesting, in any case 

 before hard frost sets in, evenly, with five to six inches of loose straw, leaving the 

 ventilation holes uncovered, and place about two inches of dirt on top of the straw to 

 prevent it from blowing away and for the purpose of packing it, as when well packed 

 it will best keep the cold air out of the silo. Thus the covering will finally be com- 

 posed of six inches of dirt, two inches of packed straw and then two inches more 

 dirt. In an ordinary season such covering should keep your beets from freezing, but 

 should there be exceptionally cold weather you might find it necessary (in case we 

 have not ordered all your beets delivered to the factory by that time) to cover the re- 

 maining piles with some long manure. As soon as the covering of silo freezes two 

 inches, .shut the ventilation holes with dirt and then keep them shut." 



Formerly the farmers were opposed to thus storing the beets, even when paid 30c 

 per ton for so doing, but experience in '95 arid '96 convinces them that it is an advan- 

 tage to the grower also because it gives him a longer time in which to deliver the 

 crop. Concerning the way in which beets keep in these silos, Mr Wietzer of the Nor- 

 folk factory writes us : 



"Regarding loss in actual sugar of beets kept in silos, we have no actual results, 

 but we have found that beets lose very little or nothing of their saccharine matter 

 within the first two months after siloing. In the old country, it is no secret that 

 beets lose at least 1 to 1| per cent of saccharine matter during a three months' time 

 in silo, mostly in cases when weather is warm. Experiments made within the last 

 few years have, however, shown that beets raised without fertilizer lose compara- 

 tively very little in silos, while beets raised with nitrate of soda show the greatest 

 loss. ' ' 



Summarizing the most recent European experience on this point Ware says: "It 

 has been demonstrated that the loss of sugar in silos is due to elevation of tempera- 

 ture and too much ventilation, the greatest loss of sugar always corresponding to the 

 anost active respiration of the plant. From this the conclusion might be drawn that 

 by keeping air out entirely the problem could be solved; but decomposition of the 

 roots then would certainly follow. When ventilation is too active, considerable loss 



