THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY IN 1920. 21 



in any locality in which irrigation is necessary to grow satisfactory 

 crops of beets. 



If the water supply in a given area will insure the growing of 

 only 5,000 acres of sugar beets annually under proper crop rotation 

 and under other conditions favorable to sugar-beet culture, it would 

 not be advisable to build a mill having a capacity greater than 500 

 tons per clay. It frequently happens that a large part of the water 

 used for irrigating purposes is wasted either by badly constructed 

 ditches or by improper methods of irrigating. Ditches are improperly 

 constructed when they allow an excessive amount of seepage or when 

 they are so easily clogged that they overflow. Under the methods in 

 practice it is sometimes impossible to avoid using water on certain 

 fields when it is really not needed. Occasionally the water is turned 

 on from the reservoir, or the community pumping plant is put in 

 operation before the water is actually needed by any of the growers. 

 Much can be done to delay the first irrigation and to extend the time 

 between irrigations by proper preparation of the seed bed and by 

 proper cultivation. In most irrigated areas the actual water supply 

 is limited, and in order to meet the crop requirements as nearly as 

 practicable there should be no waste of water beyond the unavoid- 

 able losses due to seepage and evaporation. 



Methods of irrigation. — There are two general methods of irrigat- 

 ing sugar beets, namely, by flooding, as shown in Plate III, figure 2, 

 and by the furrow method, as shown in Plate I, figure 2. The first 

 method is generally detrimental to sugar-beet production and is 

 wasteful of water. In flooding the entire surface of the field more 

 water is used than would be used by the furrow method. There is a 

 much larger surface for evaporation. The air supply is cut off from 

 the beet roots, and frequently as the ground begins to dry after a 

 flood irrigation the surface forms a crust which further cuts off the 

 air supply, promotes evaporation, and incases the beet plants in such 

 a way that it is very difficult to cultivate or otherwise work the plants 

 without doing some damage. It is argued that flood irrigation is 

 necessary in certain sections where the slope of the land is slight, 

 but it is seldom the case that the slope is not sufficient to enable the 

 careful irrigator to use the furrow method, especially if proper lat- 

 erals and cross ditches are used. In using the furrow method of 

 irrigation a furrow is made between the rows of beets or between each 

 alternate row and the next, as shown in Plate I, figure 2, and fre- 

 quently this furrow is smooth or sledded out by an implement, as 

 shown in Plate V, figure 1, which is drawn lengthwise through the 

 furrow, leaving its surface smooth and well adapted to carrying the 

 water. The water should be turned into these furrows, should be 

 confined to them entirelv without flooding the surface around the 



