GROWING FIELD CROPS IN" SUGAR-BEET DISTRICTS. 39 



horses, such a crew digging 4 to 5 acres in a 10-hour day. The pota- 

 toes are picked up by hand and placed in sacks or are put directly into 

 wagons and hauled from the field to the storage cellar. If they are 

 to be marketed they are hauled from the field to the sorter. The 

 handwork of picking up potatoes is usually done at a contract rate 

 per sack. Before marketing, the potatoes are run over a sorting 

 screen, which takes out all the small ones. All imperfect tubers are 

 picked off the screen. The potatoes are then sacked for market and 

 usually sold in the sack. The crew for sorting potatoes usually con- 

 sists of three men, one to place the potatoes on the screen and two to 

 sort, sack, and sew the bags. This crew usually works at a contract 

 price per sack. Sorting may be done at harvest time or during the 

 winter or spring. It is done just before the potatoes are marketed. 



Fig. 33. — Hauling alfalfa to the stack on a sled. It is easy to pitch hay on a low carrier such as this, and 

 very few leaves shatter off the stems. Hay slings are usually used on these sleds. 



Beet harvesting begins October 1 and continues until into Novem- 

 ber, but all beets should be harvested by November 15, for if left in 

 the ground longer there is danger of loss of the crop by freezing. 

 Beets are harvested by the use of lifters that dig one row at a time. 

 The beets are not completely taken out of the ground, but are lifted 

 a few inches and loosened so that they can be easily pulled up by hand 

 and thrown into piles. The lifters may be operated by two, three, 

 or four horses, depending on the type and condition of the soil. One 

 crew can lift 2 to 3 acres in a day. The piling of the beets by hand is 

 done at a contract price per ton. After piling the beets, the contract 

 laborer removes their tops with a hand knife. The beets are usually 

 hauled direct from the field to market, but a very small number of 

 growers store them in piles in the field and cover them with dirt. 

 Beets when marketed by the usual method must be hauled within a 

 day or two after pulling, to prevent loss of weight by evaporation. 

 The hauling of the beets is considered under "Marketing." The 



