52 BULLETIN 141, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Frequent cultivation with horse cultivators is essential, and the most 

 successful growers state that the more frequent and the deeper the 

 cultivation the larger the crop. All of the horse labor in connection 

 with the tillage of the crop is performed by the farmer who contracts 

 the acreage. 



Under ordinary climatic conditions the crop is ready for harvest- 

 ing in the middle or latter part of September, throughout the Great 

 Lake region. The first step is that of lifting the beets. This is 

 accomplished by the use of a special tool, built like a large subsoil 

 plow with narrow flanges set to raise the earth as the plow passes 

 between the rows. The beets are thus loosened in the soil. They 

 are pulled by hand and this labor is usually furnished by the com- 

 pany at a fixed charge per acre. (See PI. V, fig. 2.) The beets are 

 topped in the field as they are pulled (PL V, fig. 2, and PI. VI, fig. 

 1) and the roots are loaded on wagons (PL VI, fig. 2) for transporta- 

 tion directly to the factory or for weighing in (PL VII, figs. 1 

 and 2) and shipment by rail (PL VIII, figs. 1 and 2). When 

 weighed, the beets are also sampled to secure representative roots 

 for analysis, as the majority of the factories pa} 7 for the beets upon 

 the combined basis of tonnage and sugar content. 



The fertilization of lands upon which beets are grown has not been 

 varied greatly from the common farm practice for corn. Stable 

 manure is applied either to the clover sod before plowing or to the 

 beet land after it has been plowed. Even this is omitted in the 

 majority of instances and only the rotting vegetation is depended 

 upon for direct fertilization. Some few growers have used small 

 quantities of complete commercial fertilizer upon beets. From 200 to 

 300 pounds of a formula commonly used for corn has been used. It 

 analyses about 3 per cent of nitrogen, 9 per cent of phosphoric acid, 

 and 3 per cent of potash. Upon much of the land now used for beet 

 culture it is probable that the use of commercial fertilizers is not 

 fundamental^ 7 necessary. Yet the use of lime, in the form of 

 ground limestone, quick lime, slaked in the field and applied broad- 

 cast, or the refuse lime from the beet factories would prove decidedly 

 beneficial. Few farm crops are more favorably affected by liming 

 that the sugar beet. It is also desirable that large amounts of 

 organic manures should be thoroughly incorporated with the surface 

 T to 9 inches of soil. This is the reason for the general use of clover 

 sod for beet growing. Where possible it would be good practice to 

 apply stable manure to the clover sod before turning it under for 

 the beet crop. This may be done immediately before plowing, or the 

 manure may be broadcasted over the grass land the year previously 

 so that its first effects are gained by the growing grass and the 

 residual benefits are secured by the beets. 



