26 BULLETIN 135, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



region are not adapted to the production of profitable crops of sugar 

 beets. 



LIFTING PRACTICE. 



Nearly 91 per cent of the growers used 3-horse teams to lift beets, 

 as they all used crotch 1-row lifters. None used 2-row or side-row 

 lifters. Lifting is an arduous operation when the season is such 

 that the fields become very dry; and it would seem that the different 

 types of soil would make corresponding differences in the amount 

 of labor necessary to lift the beets, but in this region it seems that 

 the same number of horses is used in most cases. There is. however, 

 a variation in the acres pulled per day by the crews of different 

 farms. 



It is not customary to keep the lifter going the entire day, as a 

 man lifting with three horses can lift during the average 10-hour day 

 2.29 acres of beets. The average man has not enough horses to haul 

 so many beets per day in addition to the lifting work, so the custom 

 is to lift and pile and top only as many beets per day as can be 

 hauled in a day. If beets lie in the field after being lifted or 

 topped there is considerable loss in weight unless they are excep- 

 tionally well covered. Covering them over with leaves when they 

 are in small piles will stop the evaporation to some extent, but the 

 leaves soon wilt and are of little protection. Farmers try to avoid 

 having to cover beets in the field. 



On account of the danger of freezing, the farmers are always 

 anxious to get all the beets out of the ground as soon as possible 

 after harvesting begins, and this season is perhaps the busiest of the 

 year. Beet pulling usually begins about the first of October and 

 lasts until November. As a rule, November 5 is considered the latest 

 safe date to have beets still in the ground. The men who get 

 through early are usually hired by those with larger acreages. Very 

 little other work is done after beet harvesting begins until the 

 harvest is finished. 



It required 4.41 hours of man labor and 13.09 hours of horse labor 

 to lift the average acre of beets harvested, the average cost of the 

 same being $2.18 per acre. 



HAULING BEETS. 



The hauling of the beets is one of the hardest operations in the 

 production of the sugar-beet crop. The beets are always hauled 

 when there is a rush to get work done, as there is danger of loss of 

 beets if they are not harvested before the ground freezes. Harvest 

 begins about October 1 and should be completed by November 5 to 

 be safe from loss by freezing. In some seasons it is possible to 



