40 



BULLETIN 917, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



beet and potato harvests come at the same time, and if a man grows 

 a large acreage of one of these crops he can not well grow the other. 

 The harvesting of beets may be delayed later in the season than that 

 of potatoes, as frosting does not injure beets while in the ground. 

 Where both crops are grown, the grower usually completes the potato 

 harvest before beginning with beets. It is not good practice to delay 

 the beet harvest, since bad weather may come which will necessitate 

 additional labor in hauling the crop, and in cold weather the hand- 

 work of topping beets is very tedious. Furthermore, the beet tops 

 have considerable value as stock feed, and if harvested late they may 

 be partly lost on account of being covered with snow. 



MARKETING. 



Few farms were visited where any labor was performed in marketing 

 hay, almost all being sold by the ton in the stack. Some farmers fed 





t- - •* 



Fig. 34.— Stacking alfalfa, showing thi- overshot type oi stacker. 



it to the stock brought to their farms and received cash for the labor 

 of feeding in addition to the price of the hay. When the hay was 

 hauled to another farm it was paid for at a cash price per ton in the 

 stack. 



Oats and barley have a very small average charge for marketing; 

 because the greater portion of the crops was fed on the farms and the 

 grain was delivered by the grower in but few cases. 



Wheat was usually hauled to the nearest shipping point, which 

 was often a beet siding or dump where a car was placed to receive 

 the sacked grain. (Fig. 41.) 



Beans were hauled to the nearest bean cleaner or elevator in most 

 cases, but were sometimes marketed like wheat. 



The marketing of sugar beets consists of loading them on a wagon 

 in the field and hauling them to the nearest beet dump or receiving 



