GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 
37 
irrigation after July 1. From 12 to 20 inches of water is used upon 
the beet crop. 
Table XX. — Irrigation data for three Colorado districts. 
District. 
Rocky Ford . 
Fort Morgan 
Greeley 
Year. 
1914-15 
1915 
1914-15 
Number 
of farms. 
110 
66 
192 
Acres 
irrigated 
per farm. 
22.9 
36.7 
25.79 
Number 
times 
irrigated. 
3.58 
2.49 
2.96 
Number 
of men. 
Man 
hours 
per acre. 
7.79 
8.5 
Cost 
per acre. 
SI. 57 
1.48 
1.62 
Practice records on irrigation were obtained from 368 growers 
(Table XX). In the Arkansas Valley the time for irrigation varied 
from April 15 to September 10, while in northern Colorado the initial 
Fig. 20.— Irrigating sugar beets in the Greeley area. The method of distributing water is shown in this 
illustration. 
irrigation was given July 1 and the final work was completed September 
30. Greeley growers averaged three irrigations for the season, Fort 
Morgan operators two and one-half, and the Rocky Ford area three 
and one-half. There was little variation in the labor requirements or 
the final costs for this operation in 1914 and 1915. A day's work of 
eight hours amounted to 3.5 acres in the Greeley area and 4.1 acres 
in the Rocky Ford district. This would mean irrigating from 10 
to 12 acres in 24 hours. Water is usually run continuously day and 
night and is given more or less attention throughout the run (fig. 20). 
LIFTING, OR PLOWING OUT. 
Lifting, topping, and hauling are three operations which go hand 
in hand. Lifting involves loosening the beets in the soil so that they 
can be taken out readily by hand and thrown into piles. Two types 
