24 BULLETIN 693, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



as a part of production. Where lolliiig follows the thinnmg, the soil 

 is made firm about the young plants, and it is stated by some who are 

 famiUar with beet culture that this practice promotes growth. 



DITCHING. 



A certain amount of ditch cleanmg must be done annually on an 

 irrigated farm. This may mclude work on the lateral which carries 

 water from the mam canal to the farm proper, or it may take into 

 account the removal of silt and other debris from the distributing 

 laterals on the farm. Whatever work is done should be divided 

 evenly between those enterprises to which the operation is directly 

 chargeable. The sugar beet should bear a fair proportion of this cost. 

 This cleaning does not require much time, consequently the total 

 charge for any given farm is small. In some cases the operation 

 includes both man labor and hoise labor; on other farms the work 

 involves hand labor only. Frequently a ploA\^ may be used to advan- 

 tage in removing the accumulated silt from the bottom of the lateral. 

 A V-shaped machine is sometimes substituted for or used after the 

 plow. The ditching is usually performed a few weeks before it is 

 necessary to make a run of water. In procuring these estimates on 

 ditching practice, only such work as the operator applied directly to 

 the beets was put mto the record. The data mth reference to ditching 

 were tabulated m two classes, the first including those farms where 

 man labor only was involved, the second embracing the work which 

 required both man labor and horse laboi. Some growers did a part 

 of the ditching with man and horse labor and completed the task 

 with hand labor only. 



One hundred and forty-five reports contained information relative 

 to the use of man labor only m connection wdth ditching practice. 

 A few farmers in the Provo and Garland districts cleaned the ditches 

 twice during the season. However, on the majority of these farms 

 the work was done but once. The Garland records showed that 2.07 

 man hours were expended per acre, mvolving a cost of 41 cents. 

 The Provo estimates gave 1.86 man-hours per acre mth an attendant 

 cost of 35 cents, while Idaho Falls growei-s devoted 1.01 hours tc 

 ditching at a cost of 20 cents per acre. 



Eighty-six records reported on ditohuig practice with both man 

 labor and hoi*se labor. The chtches were cleaned once durmg the 

 season. The man labor vaiied from one-third to six-tenths of an hour 

 per acre, and the horse labor ranged from, eight-tenths of an hour to 

 1.19 hours per acre. The Garland estimates reported the maxhnum 

 time foi this operation, while the minimum requirement was given foi 

 the Idaho Falls growers. The Provo labor for ditchmg was slightly 

 higher than that of Idaho Falls. At Garland the cost amounted to 

 24 cents per acre; at Provo, 17 cents; and Idaho Falls, 16 cents per 

 acre. 



