38 BULLETIN 995, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the soil, thereby leaving it in good condition to form a satisfactory 

 seed bed. In case of fall or winter plowing it is better to leave 

 the ground rough, in order that it may catch or hold the winter 

 snows and rains. 



The scraper and float. — In the irrigated sections leveling is some- 

 times necessary to put the ground in condition to be irrigated. As 

 pointed out on page 10, ground which is not level or nearly so can 

 not be satisfactorily irrigated. This is especially true with a crop 

 like sugar beets, which must be irrigated by the furrow method. If 

 the ground is leveled before the plowing is done, a scraper is com- 

 monly used. If the leveling is left until after the ground is plowed, 

 an implement called a float is frequently used ; this consists of two 

 planks placed on edge and so framed together, about 6 or 8 feet 

 apart, that they can be dragged sideways over the field as shown in 

 Plate V, figure 2. This has the advantage of not only leveling the 

 ground, but it tends to break up the small clods and puts the 

 ground in good condition for further preparation of the seed bed. 

 Frequently the Fresno scraper is used before plowing if the surface 

 is very uneven, and the float is used after plowing in the same field. 

 The two operations are quite distinct ; the former is usually called 

 scraping and the latter leveling. The scraping is necessary only 

 when inequalities in the surface of the field are very marked. The 

 time and labor spent in leveling will be repaid in the production of 

 sugar beets, both from the standpoint of yield and from that of labor 

 saved in irrigating. 



The roller. — Another implement of considerable importance in 

 sugar-beet growing is the roller. There are two types of this imple- 

 ment, as shown in Plate II, figures 1 and 2, namely, the smooth 

 roller and the so-called corrugated roller. The latter is desirable in 

 those localities where there are high winds, since the corrugations 

 tend to prevent the soil from shifting under the influence of the 

 wind. The chief advantage of the roller is its surface-packing 

 effect. If the root bed is inclined to be loose the subsurface packer 

 should be used immediately after plowing. As previously noted, 

 the seed bed for sugar beets should be decidedly firm, for the two 

 reasons, at least, that the firmness of the seed bed tends to hold the 

 moisture, and at the same time prevents the sinking of the drill 

 Avheels, which would frequently result in planting the seed too deep. 

 The seed bed that is unevenly firm or in which there are soft spots or 

 areas is always unsatisfactory, as it results in an uneven start of the 

 beet plants, which interferes with the handling of the crop. 



Harvesting tools. — At harvest time the beet lifter, a special im- 

 plement not required in harvesting other crops, is necessary. (PL 

 VII, fig. 1.) There are two forms of this implement, namely, the 

 double-pointed lifter and the side lifter. In the former, one point 



