26 BULLETIN 735, U. S. DEPARTMENT, OF AGRICULTURE. 
region are not adapted to the production of profitable crops of sugar 
beets. : 
LIFTING PRACTICE. 
Nearly 91 per cent of the growers used 3-horse teams to lift beets, 
as they all used crotch 1-row lifters. None used 2-row or side-row 
lifters. Lifting is an arduous operation when the season is such 
that the fields become very dry; and it would seem that the different — 
types of soil would make corresponding differences in the amount | 
of labor necessary to lift the beets, but in this region it seems that 
the same number of horses is used in most cases. There is, however, 
a variation in the acres pulled per day by the crews of different 
farms. | 
It is not customary to keep the lifter going the entire day, as a 
man lifting with three horses can lift during the average 10-hour day 
2.29 acres of beets. The average man has not enough horses to haul 
so many beets per day in addition to the lifting work, so the custom | 
is to lift and pile and top only as many beets per day as can be 
hauled in a day. If beets lie in the field after being lifted or 
topped there is considerable loss in weight unless they are excep- 
tionally well covered. Covering them over with leaves when they 
are in small piles will stop the evaporation to some extent, but the 
leaves soon wilt and are of little protection. Farmers try to avoid 
having to cover beets in the field. 
On account of the danger of freezing, the farmers are always 
anxious to get all the beets out of the ground as soon as possible 
after harvesting begins, and this season is perhaps the busiest of the 
year. Beet pulling usually begins about the first of October and 
lasts until November. Asa rule, November 5 is considered the latest 
safe date to have beets still in the ground. The men who get 
through early are usually hired by those with larger acreages. Very 
little other work is done after beet harvesting begins until the 
harvest is finished. 
It required 4.41 hours of man labor and 13.09 hours of horse labor 
to lift the average acre of beets harvested, the average cost of the 
same being $2.18 per acre. 
HAULING BEETS. 
The hauling of the beets is one of the hardest operations in the 
production of the sugar-beet crop. The beets are always hauled 
when there is a rush to get work done, as there is danger of loss of 
beets 1f they are not harvested before the ground freezes. Harvest 
begins about October 1 and should be completed by November 5 to 
be safe from loss by freezing. In some seasons it is possible to 
