93 THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
leaves wilt down and the tops begin to change from a light or yellowish green to a 
dark green. After the first watering they should be kept wet. 1 would not be in fa- 
vor of going to an extreme, but I would not allow them to get dry if I could help it. 
The length of time between waterings should vary, according to the land, from 8 to 14 
days. The last watering should be about the last of August or the first of 
September.’’ 
Another expert, Mr Samuel Taylor says: ‘‘I do not believe it is good to irrigate 
too soon. Let your beets get up and get them thinned, letting them have a pretty 
good start. When the lower leaves begin to wilt and the tops turn a dark green, the 
water should be first applied. Of course when you start you must keep it up. Three 
or four waterings will make a good crop of beets. Four are better than three, and if 
you can get four good irrigations on a crop of veets I am satisfied they will mature 
and make a good crop. With respect to the last watering; one year we were told to 
stop watering too early and we lost a great many beets by it. I would water the last 
time about the last of August, if watered up to this date the beets will be all right.”’ 
In Nebraska it is felt that proper irrigation will often insure the crop, but expe- 
rience has so far been limited. Mr F. Wietzer, field manager for the Norfolk fac- 
tory, summarizes the matter for this work as foliows: ‘‘We have taken much interest 
in irrigation of sugar beets. Last year there was raised 90 acres by irrigation, and 
the results were very satisfactory, as well in quality as quantity. Beets should never 
be irrigated until they show actual need of it. No water should be put on them as 
long as there is a natural supply of water in the ground, for too much water is almost 
as disastrous as not enough. After you have once commenced putting water on land, 
it dries out more quickly than before and will require watering the second time. The 
number of irrigations that a crop requires during the season depends entirely upon 
local surroundings, nature and condition of land. The first irrigation should not be 
before the middle of June, and no water should be applied after the first week in 
August. Beets should never be irrigated in the fall, for irrigating at that time will 
bring forth new tops and give the roots a second growth, which is disastrous to the 
quality. A very advantageous method of irrigation is this: When the spring is very 
dry, to soak the land from the irrigation ditches, and then as soon as the soil is dry 
enough, prepare seed bed and plant seed.”’ 
Mr Granger, field manager of the Utah Sugar Co, spoke of irrigation at length in 
his address before the Pecos valley beet growersin New Mexico. Among other things 
he said: ‘‘As soon as you have commenced irrigating, see that the beet is kept sup- 
plied with sufficient moisture to keep it thrifty. It will take thirty days from the 
last irrigation before you can harvest, usually; on very sandy land twenty-five days, on 
clay land thirty days. This delay is necessary because, when you are through irrigat- 
ing for the last time, the beets are nearly through growing and the sugar is forming. 
When given an irrigation, the sugar in the beets will go down for fifteen days, and it 
will take a little longer to get back again. A great many people ask me how many 
times they shall irrigate. I cannot tell them without seeing the field. When the 
leaves wilt down in the middle of the day it is not so bad, but when they stay wilted 
in the cool of the evening, give them a drink. Jet them suffer a little for water in 
the fore part of the season; it will force the taproot to reach down for moisture. In 
