GROWING SUGAR, BEETS IN COLORADO. 
Table XVI. — Planting data for three Colorado districts. 
29 
District. 
Year. 
Num- 
ber of 
farms. 
Acres 
planted 
per farm. 
Crew. 
Hours per acre. 
Total 
cost 
peracre. 
Man. 
Horse. 
Man. 
Horse. 
1914-15 
1915 
1914-15 
109 
66 
195 
23.02 
37.2 
25.66 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1.14 
1.03 
1.06 
2.30 
2.09 
2.13 
$0.44 
.43 
.43 
It has been customary in these areas to use approximately 20 
pounds of seed per acre. Recently, owing to the scarcity of beet 
seed the amount used has been reduced considerably. It has been 
found that a seeding of 10 to 12 pounds per acre gives very satisfactory 
results, provided soil conditions are right. Planting was done 
universally by one man and two horses. Growers in these three 
districts averaged nine to ten acres per day. The cost for planting 
in 1914 and 1915 was practically identical for the three districts. 
ROLLING BEETS. 
The practice of rolling has been discussed in part in connection 
with the preparation of the seed bed. However, the practice of 
rolling beets was considered important enough to be considered 
separately. This operation is performed after the seed had been 
planted and many of the young plants have begun to appear. Light 
showers occur frequently at this season of the year and the soil has a 
tendency to become baked. When this condition is pronounced, the 
young plants may be prevented from coming through and a poor 
stand will be the result. Some growers make a practice of harrowing 
in order to restore the surface mulch, but if the field is rolled, the 
crust can be broken and the beet plants will not be checked in their 
growth. Rolling at this period may also put the soil in better condi- 
tion for bunching and thinning. Furthermore, rolling promotes 
capillary action, which is very essential to rapid growth. In these 
three districts the rolling after planting was done almost exclusively 
with a corrugated roller (fig. 12). 
On some farms this work was done before thinning, on others 
after thinning and blocking. Rolling packs the soil about the beet 
and facilitates recovery of the plant after being disturbed with the 
hoe or by hand. Moreover, bunching with a hoe creates a small 
ridge between the rows, and if this is made smooth with a roller, the 
cultivator can be guided more readily. The Fort Morgan and Greeley 
growers averaged a little more than once over; the Rocky Ford growers 
one and one-fifth times over. The rolling was done almost entirely 
with crews of one man and two horses. The cost for this operation 
in 1914 and 1915 was somewhat lower than that for rolling in seed bed 
preparation (Table XVII). 
