134 The Sugar-Beet in America 
the land was so dry as to necessitate irrigating the seed- 
bed, it was judged better to irrigate before seeding than 
immediately after. 
Knight,! in Nevada, concluded that “fall-plowed land 
sometimes requires an application of water before seed- 
ing,” but a poor stand generally results from an irrigation 
immediately after planting. Where spring watering is 
necessary, it should be done as early as possible, and when 
the land is sufficiently dry, should be deeply cultivated. 
He found that where beets received no irrigation until 
they failed to revive at night from the wilting of the day, 
an unsatisfactory crop resulted. 
Knorr,? at Scottsbluff in Nebraska, secured the best 
results when beets were irrigated at such times as to 
keep the plants in good growing condition from the 
time of thinning until about three weeks before harvest. 
The irrigations should be in moderate amounts and the 
soil never so dry that the plants suffer for lack of moisture. 
He found it desirable to cultivate the beets to break the 
crust by irrigating as soon as the soil became dry enough. 
Sugar-beets receiving three irrigations during the growing 
season gave a yield of 1.6 tons to the acre more if they 
also received an irrigation the previous fall, than those 
receiving water only in the growing season. 
The author,’ in order to determine the critical periods 
in the life of the sugar-beet for water, divided the life of 
the plant into four stages of growth and added water in 
1 Knight, C. S., Nev. Exp. Sta., Bul. No. 75, and Ann. Rot. for 
1915. 
2 Knorr, F., Neb. Exp. Sta., Bul. No. 141. 
3 Harris, F. S., Utah Exp. Sta., Bul. No. 156. 
