590 



SUGAR-BEET 



SUGAR-BEET 



Climate. — In regard to climate, two points have 

 been found to be- of vital importance to the growth 

 and quality of sugar-beets, — temperature and 

 moisture. In general, high temperatures are 

 detrimental to the best development of the sugar 

 content of the beet. It has been observed that an 

 average temperature of about 70° Fahr. during the 

 growing months has a marked Influence in produc- 

 ing satisfactory sugar content of the beet. Abnor- 

 mally cold weather at any time during the growing 

 season has a tendency to retard the development 

 of the beets. The danger from this source de- 

 creases as beets develop, since they become more 

 resistant to cold as the season advances. While a 

 certain amount of moisture is necessary to enable 

 the seeds to germinate, an excess of moisture will 

 often cause the seeds to rot or will aid in bringing 

 about a damping-off of the seedlings. When sugar- 

 beets become well established, they will stand more 

 moisture than most other farm vegetation crops, 

 but, like other crops, they do best in well-drained 

 soil. 



Excessive moisture accompanied by growing 

 temperature at or near the close of the growing 

 season when the beets are ripe, or nearly ripe, will 

 often cause a renewed growth of foliage which 

 has a tendency to reduce the sugar content of the 

 beets. This reduction varies from a fraction of 

 one per cent up to two per cent or more. If circum- 

 stances are such that the beets can be left undis- 

 turbed after normal conditions are restored, the 

 sugar content will be gradually increased again. 



The seed-bed. — The seed-bed for sugar-beets, 

 when properly prepared, consists of a deep, well- 

 drained but moist, firmly-packed surface soil cov- 

 ered with a layer of well-pulverized but looser 

 soil, which will admit the air freely around the 

 roots of the plants and which at the same time 

 acts as a blanket to prevent too rapid evaporation 

 of moisture from the lower part of the seed-bed. 

 In order to produce a seed-bed that will fulfil the 

 required conditions, drainage should receive first 

 attention. The ground should therefore be broken 

 to a good depth, eight to eighteen inches, depend- 

 ing on the nature of the soil. As with other crops, 

 not much raw soil should be turned up at one time, 

 but the seed-bed should be brought gradually to 

 the proper depth in order to get the best results. 

 The subsoil plow, though not so commonly used as 

 formerly in preparing ground for sugar-beet seed, 

 would be advantageous in many instances where 

 greater depth is desired. Pall-plowing is generally 

 recommended and frequently practiced by sugar- 

 beet-growers, but the time of plowing must be 

 governed largely by soil and climatic conditions. 

 In many sugar-beet sections the ground is too dry 

 in the fall to be plowed to advantage. Having 

 broken the ground under the best possible condi- 

 tions, the most important point is to conserve the 

 moisture; to this end the ground should be rolled 

 or harrowed immediately after plowing and no 

 crust allowed to form on the surface. Previous to 

 planting, the ground should be worked thoroughly 

 with such implements as will pack the seed-bed 

 laelow and leave a loose layer of soil on the surface. 



In most instances, a float and a harrow properly 

 adjusted as to depth will produce the desired 

 result. A thorough preparation of the seed-bed 

 has the secondary advantage of materially lessen- 

 ing the labor in the subsequent care of the beets, 

 by destroying many weeds that must otherwise 

 be removed by hand. 



Fertilizers. — Three kinds of fertilizer are in com- 

 mon use for sugar-beets : green fertilizers, stable 

 mauures and chemical or so-called commercial fer- 

 tilizers. The green fertilizer most commonly used 

 with sugar-beets is alfalfa. It is becoming more 

 and more common to use alfalfa in a system of ro- 

 tation with sugar-beets, plowing the alfalfa under at 

 the end of three or more seasons. A crop of alfalfa 

 may or may not be plowed under, depending on 

 the requirement of the soil for humus. The roots 

 of the alfalfa necessarily furnish more or less 

 humus and should be broken up long enough before 

 beet-seed-planting to allow them to rot, otherwise 

 they will be very troublesome in the cultivation of 

 the young beets. Usually alfalfa sod plowed in the 

 fall is in proper condition for beet seed the follow- 

 ing spring, but with some growers it is customary 

 to use another crop in the rotation between the 

 alfalfa and beets. For this purpose potatoes or one 

 of the small grains are generally used. Other green 

 crops are sometimes used in rotation with beets, of 

 which clover, rye or rape are employed when a 

 supply of humus is desired as quickly as possible. 



So far as any exact data have been secured, 

 stable manures give better results with sugar-beets 

 than do commercial fertilizers. While it is true 

 that different kinds of stable manures produce dif- 

 ferent results with sugar-beets, the same kind of 

 manure will give even more variable results, de- 

 pending on the time of its application and the con- 

 ditions under which it was kept previous to using. 

 A good crop has generally been secured by apply- 

 ing well-rotted manure just before plowing, and 

 incorporating it thoroughly with the soil. 



In regard to commercial fertilizers, the best re- 

 sults have generally followed the use of a complete 

 fertilizer, although when a certain element is 

 known to be present in the soil in sufficient quan- 

 tity and in an available form, nothing seems to be 

 gained by applying that particular element in the 

 form of a chemical. 



The time of applying the commercial fertilizer 

 must be governed by its solubility. If it is ground 

 bone, or other material that dissolves with diifi- 

 culty, the best results are secured by applying it 

 long enough before the beets are up to allow the 

 material to begin to break down and become 

 soluble. On the other hand, if the material is 

 easily soluble, as nitrate of soda, the results are 

 more satisfactory if several applications are made 

 at intervals of several weeks. Nitrate of soda has 

 a tendency to prolong the growth of the beets and 

 therefore should not be used very late in the season, 

 as in such case the beets would fail to ripen 

 properly. 



The seed. — Beet seeds are produced from flowers 

 that occur, for the most part, in groups of two to 

 seven, giving rise to seed-balls which usually con- 



