12 



BULLETIN 748, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



clover crop. Twenty-nine per cent of the men in the Caro, 32 per 

 cent, in the Alma, and 56 per cent in the Grand Rapids district, and 

 only 5 per cent in northwestern Ohio applied both manure and com- 

 mercial fertilizer. With very few exceptions, the growers who ap- 

 plied commercial fertilizers covered their entire beet acreage, even 

 though a portion of the acreage had received an application of 

 manure. 



Beet drills with fertilizer attachments were used to apply the 

 fertilizer in the drill row at the time of seeding, so that the labor 

 requirements for fertilizing are included under planting practice. 



A majority of the men interviewed reported a special trip to town 

 after fertilizer. The labor cost for hauling amounted to about 20 

 cents per acre. The rate of application ranged from 130 pounds to 

 170 pounds per acre and consisted in most cases of a prepared mix- 

 ture containing about 2 per cent nitrogen, 8 per cent phosphoric 

 acid, and 3 per cent potash. The cost per acre for the above applica- 

 tion ranged from $1.75 to $2. 



PLOWING. 



Sugar beets require a well-prepared, deep, firm seed bed. To ob- 

 tain this the land should be in good condition at the time of breaking 

 and the depth of plowing should be sufficient to allow the long tap- 

 root of the sugar beet to penetrate some distance into the soil. The 

 depth of plowing varied from 6 inches to 9 inches, with an average 

 depth of about 7.5 inches for all districts studied. (Table V.) 



It is generally conceded that fall plowing of sugar-beet land is to 

 be preferred, and this was found to be the practice on a considerable 

 number of the farms visited. 



In the Caro district 56 per cent of the men reported fall plowing, 

 20 per cent spring plowing, and 24 per cent did a portion of the w T ork 

 in the fall and the remainder in the spring. A small proportion 

 practiced fall plowing in the other districts, but this was mainly 

 because of lack of time to do the w T ork before cold weather set in. 

 The spring plowing was all done early in April, or as early as the 

 land was in condition to work. 



Table V. — Plowing. 



District. 



Per 



cent 



of all 



records. 



Acres in beets per 

 farm. 



Hours of labor per 

 acre. 



Total. 



Plowed. 



Man. 



Hcrsc. 



96 

 92 

 100 

 100 



14.94 

 9.44 

 6.40 



15.64 



14.54 

 9.21 

 6.40 



15. 29 



5.77 

 4.85 

 5.19 

 5.69 



14.34 

 11.87 

 13. 52 

 14.58 



Labor 



cost per 



acre. 



faro 



Alma 



Grand Rapids 



Northwestern Ohio 



82. 50 

 2.16 

 2.39 

 2.60 



