GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 
35 
SLEDDING. 
Sledding is an operation which was common in the Arkansas 
Valley only. The operation was performed with a homemade sled 
consisting of two small logs held together by crosspieces. These 
logs are just far enough apart to span a pair of furrows, each log, 
when the sled is running, crushing any clods or lumps that may be 
in its furrow and leaving the surface smooth (fig. 17). Thus, when 
the water is turned into the furrow it passes rapidly from one end to 
the other and a uniform distribution is secured. Sixty-eight growers 
reported on sledding in 1914 and 1915. The fields were gone over 
twice during the season, once for the first irrigation and once later. 
Fig. 17. — Sledding out prior to irrigating the young sugar beets. This insures a more rapid movement 
of the water and assists in obtaining a more even distribution of water in the soil. 
The crew on many of these farms consisted of one man and one 
horse. A few growers used one man and two horses. Sledding 
required 2.2 man-hours and 3.5 horse-hours per acre, and cost 75 
cents per acre. These growers averaged 9.3 acres per day sledding. 
In the other districts small logs sometimes were attached to the 
shovels on the cultivator and the sledding was done simultaneously 
with the furrowing out. 
IRRIGATION. 
It has been pointed out that there is a slight difference in climatic 
conditions between the Arkansas Valley and the northern and eastern 
areas of the State. It is customary to irrigate early in the season in 
