GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 



35 



SLEDDING. 



Sledding is an operation which was common in the Arkansas 

 . Valley only. The operation was performed with a homemade sled 

 consisting of two small logs held together by crosspieces. These 

 logs are just far enough apart to span a pair of furrows, each log, 

 when the sled is running, crushing any clods or lumps that may be 

 in its furrow and leaving the surface smooth (fig. 17). Thus, when 

 the water is turned into the furrow it passes rapidly from one end to 

 the other and a uniform distribution is secured. Sixty-eight growers 

 reported on sledding in 1914 and 1915. The fields were gone over 

 twice during the season, once for the first irrigation and once later. 



Fig. 17.— Sledding out prior to irrigating the young sugar beets. This insures a more rapid movement 

 of the water and assists in obtaining a more even distribution of water in the soil. 



The crew on many of these farms consisted of one man and one 

 horse. A few growers used one man and two horses. Sledding 

 required 2.2 man-hours and 3.5 horse-hours per acre, and cost 75 

 cents per acre. These growers averaged 9.3 acres per day sledding. 

 In the other districts small logs sometimes were attached to the 

 shovels on the cultivator and the sledding was done simultaneously 

 with the furrowing out. 



IRRIGATION. 



It has been pointed out that there is a slight difference in climatic 

 conditions between the Arkansas Valley and the northern and eastern 

 areas of the State. It is customary to irrigate early in the season in 



