THE BEET-SUGAE IlfDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. 11 



the development and storage of sugar. The young beet plant very 

 early in its life begins to store sugar, but its maximum activity along 

 this line is reached in the fall, when the difference in temperature 

 between night and day is most apparent. This difference seems to be 

 necessary for the proper elaboration and storage of sugar and is 

 apparently a limiting factor in the production of sugar-beet roots 

 sufficiently rich in sugar to make them profitable for sugar-making 

 purposes. It is probable that the absence of cool nights at the end 

 of the growing season permits the continued growth and develop- 

 ment of the beets, thereby using up the sugar in plant growth instead 

 of storing it. 



Moisture. — ^Moisture is necessary for the production of profitable 

 crops of sugar beets. This reaches the soil in the form of rain or 

 snow, or it may be applied artificially. Our present sugar-beet area 

 extends over a portion of the humid and the irrigated sections of the 

 country, as shown in figure 1. 



In the humid sections the moisture falls largely during the winter 

 months, although there are usually frequent rains during the spring 

 and summer. Occasionally some parts of the humid portion of our 

 sugar-beet area are visited by heavy rains in the early spring, which 

 greatly delay the planting of the beets as well as of other crops. This 

 is sometimes followed about midsummer by a severe drought which 

 greatly retards crop growth. If these conditions were of frequent 

 occurrence over wide areas they would constitute a limiting factor in 

 sugar-beet growing in the humid sections ; but they have occurred in 

 this country only in limited areas and at long intervals. Occasionally 

 rainfall is abundant at harvesting time, sometimes injuring the 

 sugar-beet crop by producing a second growth of the plants, which 

 greatly reduces the sugar content. The extent of this injury de- 

 pends upon the condition of the beets and the duration of the rainy 

 period. If this is followed by a period of favorable weather the 

 sugar content will be restored wholly or in part, depending upon the 

 duration and nature of the weather. It sometimes happens that the 

 beets must be harvested before the lost sugar is fully restored, either 

 to prevent the roots from freezing in the ground or to avoid a tem- 

 porary shutdown of the mill. Consequently, a second growth due to 

 late rains may cause serious losses to the grower and to the sugar 

 company. A season in the humid region in which the rainfall is 

 just sufficient to maintain a steady growth until near harvesting 

 time, followed by continuous fair weather accompanied by cool 

 nights and warm days, makes conditions most favorable for the pro- 

 duction of sugar beets so far as the humid area is concerned. These 

 conditions prevail generally in the humid sections where sugar beets 

 are grown. 



