70 



Sugar Beet Growing. 



[Apr., 



apart. Should the conditions be wet, the fork is replaced by a 

 light graft-hke tool illustrated in Fig. 2. Either of these tools 

 will enable the workman to dig or lever the beet from the soil 

 with ease. As the beets are lifted they are placed in rows, with 

 leaves all pointing in one direction. This is important, since it 

 saves labour in topping. 



Topping. — Each labourer carries in his belt a topping knife 

 similar to a butcher's chopper weighing about 1 lb. (Fig. 3.). 



Having lifted a row of beet, he returns, and, picking up each 

 beet by means of the cui-ved point of his knife, he tops it by a 

 quick straight cut, the cut being made at the level of the lowest 

 leaf scar. The roots are then thrown into heaps. 



The topping of the beet in the correct position is a matter that 

 requires strict supervision. If it is topped too near the leaves, 

 the farmer loses part of the crown, which contains valuable 

 cattle food, yet for the extra weight in the roots he receives no 

 credit from the factory manager, for the crown is of little value 

 for sugar extraction. When returning for his lifting tool, the 

 labourer covers the heaps of roots with leaves to prevent drying, 

 or damage by severe frosts before carting is possible. 



The lifting, topping, and loading into carts, is usually done by 

 piecework, and gangs of men go from farm to farm for this 

 alone. In loading the beets into the carts, they use a concave 

 five-pronged fork, the points of each prong being enlarged and 

 rounded to prevent the penetration of the roots. 



Mechanical Harvesting. — Mechanical lifting is carried out 

 only where the beets are grown on a large scale. Various- 

 machines have been devised to do the work quit'kly and simply. 

 At a demonstration at Gembloux, in Belgium, in September, two 

 machines carried out the work of topping and lifting expeditiously 

 and efficiently. A Belgian machine did the work in two opera- 

 tions. Several rows were first topped by a separate machine 

 drawn by horses, the tops and crowns being mechanically raked 

 into heaps for carting. This machine was follow^ed by a digger 

 drawn by a light tractor. A machine sold by M. Guichard, of 

 I;ieusaint, France, is a combined topper and lifter light enough 

 to be drawn by three horses, which will top and lift 21- acres of 

 beet in a day of 8 hours. 



The topper consists of a drum capable of vertical movement, 

 and directly in the rear of this a knife w^hich beheads the beet. 

 When the drum comes into contact with the beet tops, these are 

 draw^n in and the knife is forced against the crown of the plant. 

 The severed tops are deposited in rows on one side of the 



