12 BULLETIN 735, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



plowing other than that required for winter wheat. Some crowning 

 of alfalfa is done in the fall and early winter, but little other than 

 alfalfa land is plowed before early spring. Only 23 growers out of a 

 total of 305 did any fall plowing, and only 3 plowed all of their beet 

 land in the fall. Most growers were of the opinion that fall plowing 

 of land for beets was advisable, but generally there was no time for 

 this work because the beet harvest and work on other crops demanded 

 all the available man and horse labor. 



The data presented show that the average team of three or four 

 horses and a man will plow a little less than 2 acres of land per 10- 

 hour day. 



All the growers plow rather deep in preparing land for sugar beets, 

 and they so plan the operation that the land can be leveled off well 

 for irrigation. The usual depth of plowing is from 8 to 10 inches, 

 some plowing a little shallower or a little deeper, according to the 

 type of soil they have. Two-way plows are used by some, and it was 

 found that they leave the land in better shape for irrigation than 

 plows of other types, as no dead furrows are left in the field. They 

 are not difficult to operate. Definite data as to the number of 2-way 

 plows were not obtained, because in many instances the enumerators 

 did not differentiate between sulky plows and 2-way plows. 



The variation in cost for different crews in plowing seems to be 

 more in the cost for man labor than for horse labor. This is due to 

 the fact that with more horses to handle less time is required by the 

 man per horse, while the horse can do about the same amount of 

 labor regardless of the method of hitching. As has been explained 

 in regard to the kind of plows used, the classification of crews might 

 be limited to 2-horse teams, 3 or 4 horse teams, and 5 or 6 horse teams. 

 The 3-horse team seems to have an advantage over the 4-horse team. 

 Part of this may be due to the method of hitching and the facility of 

 turning. A 3-horse team is hitched abreast, while four horses are 

 hitched in two teams tandem in most instances. Most of the advan- 

 tage is due to the type of soils. In the sections where the soil is more 

 samty and loose the plowing is almost all done by three horses, and in 

 sections where the soil is heavier all the growers plow with 4-horse 

 teams. The depth of plowing also influences the number of horses 

 required for plowing. 



Of the 15 growers who plowed with a crew of one man and two 

 horses. 13 used walking plows. 1 used a sulky, and 1 did not state 

 the kind of plow used. Of the 87 growers who employed 3-horse 

 teams. 8 used walking plows, 77 sulky plows, and 2 gang plows. Of 

 the 110 teams of four horses, 99 were with sulky plows and 11 with 

 gang plows. Of the 17 teams of five horses. 3 were with sulky plows 

 and 14 were with gang plows. Five growers hitched 6-horse teams 



