GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN CALIFORNIA. 
27 
operation. An average crew of 1.1 men and 5.4 horses consumed 
0.33 man hours and 1.56 horse hours per acre at an average cost of 
23 cents per acre. 
Table XVII. — Irrigating. 
District. 
Number 
of 
records. 
Per cent 
of total 
records. 
Acres in beets per 
farm. 
Man 
hours 
per acre. 
Labor 
cost per 
Total. 
Irrigated. 
acre. 
53 
9 
65 
23 
104. 67 
97.67 
87.26 
73.44 
6.57 
5.04 
$1.31 
1.06 
Irrigation was not practiced at Oxnard, and only nine growers at 
Salinas reported labor on this operation. (Table XVII.) How- 
ever, this number represents only the growers who practiced irriga- 
tion, and not those who had it done on contract. In all, 24 growers, 
or 62 per cent, irrigated, 56 per cent of which paid a contract rate of 
$3.75 per acre. The percentage of total number of records in both 
areas where irrigation was practiced is fairly uniform. On the farms 
where irrigation was practiced, 83 per cent of the beet land was 
irrigated in the Los Angeles area, while at Salinas 92 per cent of the 
beet land received an application of water. 
At Los Angeles the beets were irrigated from March to August, 
At Salinas three growers irrigated the beets from June to August, 
two men irrigated only for replanting beets, fourteen growers irri- 
gated before plowing, while five made the application after the land 
was plowed. 
The time required per acre, as well as the cost, does not vary 
greatly in the two regions. At Salinas the estimates are slightly 
lower than in the Los Angeles area. The average crew at Salinas 
was 2.7 men, while at Los Angeles the crew was only 1.6 men. 
A twofold benefit is derived from the factory waste water. In addi- 
tion to furnishing moisture that is usually sufficient to bring the crop 
to maturity, the water returns to the soil some of the mineral con- 
stituents of the sugar beet. It has been found that for every 100,000 
parts of water there are 80 parts residue. This plant food is in an 
available form and can be readily taken up by the sugar beet. 
LIFTING. 
The degree of maturity of the crop determines the time to start the 
work of lifting or plowing out the sugar beet in these areas. The 
time that the beet reaches the proper stage varies according to weather 
conditions, time of planting, etc., and is generally determined for 
the grower by a sugar test made by the sugar- factory representative. 
