CHAPTER XI 
HARVESTING 
On the returns of the harvest depend the profits of the 
year. It is not sufficient to raise a good crop; it must 
also be gathered and husbanded. The farmer’s respon- 
sibility does not cease till he has delivered the result of 
the harvest to the purchaser and secured his pay. It 
would be folly indeed to take great care in preparing a 
seed-bed, in planting, in cultivating, in irrigating, and in 
conducting the other operations involved in raising beets, 
and then be less vigilant in harvesting the crop. The 
harvest time is a very busy season and help is often scarce. 
For this reason, there is a constant temptation to rush 
the work and thereby to slight it. Giving way to this 
temptation means the giving away of part of the season’s 
profit. = : 
TIME OF HARVEST ._ 
The proper time to harvest beets varies greatly with 
conditions. In parts of California and in other warm 
climates, digging may begin early in July and extend for 
two or three months. In most of the other sugar-beet 
areas, digging starts in September and continues till the 
time the land usually freezes hard. The time to begin in 
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