THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. 21 



around the beets. The water should be allowed to flow until the 

 soil is thoroughly wet. The head of water which is used in furrow 

 irrigation must not be too large, as shown in Plate III, figure 2. 

 The size of the head must be governed by the slope of the land, by 

 the nature of the soil, and by the number of furrows that can be 

 supplied at one time. 



Leveling. — In order that irrigation may be properly done the field 

 must be carefully leveled, as shown in Plate V, figure 2. This is 

 frequently a limiting factor on many fields and occasionally in an 

 entire community. The lack of success in at least one sugar-beet 

 area is due primarily to the failure of the growers to level the ground 

 properly. It usually requires several years to level a field properly 

 for furrow irrigation, for the reason that the depressions that are 

 filled during the first effort to level the field will usually settle and 

 still leave slight depressions, while the higher points from which the 

 soil was removed to make the fills do not settle and an unevenness 

 results. If the leveling 'process is repeated for two or three years 

 the ground is generally sufficiently level to admit of furrow irriga- 

 tion. If the ground is very uneven the Fresno scraper may often 

 be used to good advantage. In some localities the surface of the 

 soil is by nature sufficiently level to admit of proper irrigation. In 

 other sections the slopes are sufficiently long and the source of the 

 water supply so high that it can be carried to the highest point and 

 distributed over large areas without going to the expense of leveling 

 the ground. In the process of leveling, the better surface soil is 

 removed from the high point and carried to the depression. It is 

 then necessary to improve the areas from which the better soil has 

 been removed, either by the use of stable manure or a leguminous 

 crop. Sometimes several years are required to make a leveled field 

 uniform in fertility as well as in firmness of surface. 



A very coarse soil, especially if it has a porous subsoil^ is irri- 

 gated with great difficulty, and frequently much time and money are 

 wasted in leveling such lands, as they are not adapted to the grow- 

 ing of sugar beets or other intensively cultivated crops. 



DRAINAGE. 



Drainage has an important bearing upon sugar-beet growing in 

 general, as well as upon the production of other farm crops. Large 

 areas of land that are now too wet to be cultivated could be put under 

 tillage and produce good crops if properly drained. Other large 

 areas now under cultivation are in many instances becoming water- 

 logged, especially in the irrigated sections, and will soon be unfit 

 for crop production unless they are drained. In some instances the 

 further expansion of the sugar-beet acreage is limited to the bringing 

 in of areas throupfh drainage. 



