42 
BULLETIN 1388, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The principal difficulty encountered in the growing of sugar beets, 
since its introduction into the valley in 1917, has been a disease 
called curly top, which is caused by insect infection due to migra- 
tions of the carrier insect (Euttetics tenella). When a plant has de- 
veloped full-grown leaves at the time of infection, these leaves con- 
tinue to function, and only the younger leaves show signs of the dis- 
ease. For this reason earlier planted beets always produce the best 
crop. 
As sugar beets are a new crop to most of the farmers in this area, 
they have not always been given the care and attention winch brings 
p 
MAR APR. MAY 
^^kfarm Labor 
JUNE JULY 
AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV. 
2^3 Hired Labor 
Fig. 16. 
-Distribution of labor for principal field operations on 1 acre of sugar 
CONDITIONS 
Yield: 9 tons, after cultivated crop. 
Equipment used: 14-inch 2-way plow and 3 horses; 6-foot spring-tooth harrow and 3 horses; 8-foot spike- 
tooth harrow and 2 horses; 6-foot by 12-foot float and 3 horses; 4-row beet drill and 2 horses; 4-row 
cultivator and 2 horses; beet lifter and 2 horses. 
Material requirements per acre: 15 pounds seed. 
out their best possibilities. Those who have been most successful 
with beets have selected the soil with care, fall-plowed the ground, 
and seeded very early the following spring. The land lias been well 
cultivated and irrigated throughout the season. Good potato ground, 
if not too sandy, is good beet ground. 
Every possible means should be encouraged to overcome the dif- 
ficulties which stand in the way of profitable sugar-beet production, 
because of its possibilities, in stabilizing returns from field crops and 
its adaptability to a place in the cropping system. The sugar-beet 
acreage on each farm should be limited to that which the operator 
can prepare well and cover with barnyard manure. 
i The data from which this chart was made, as well as other information on the principal field opera- 
tions for sugar beets, appear in the following table: 
Item 
'3 
is 
o 
o 
H 
1 
5 
© 
"3 
o 
e 
5a 
a 
a 
3 
•a 
a 
a 
M 
o 
s 
w 
3 
T3 
C3 
O 
a 
a 
o 
Times over. 
Number.. 
Acre , 
Hour 
...do 
Usual half- 
month 
period. 
2 
5 
15 
2 
15 
1.4 
? 8 
8 
10 
8 
16 
May 1 to 
Aug. 31. 
4 
3 
1.2 
24 
Rate per day. 
Man labor 
per acre. 
Horse labor 
per acre. 
8 
1.2 
3 6 
9 
1.1 
? ? 
0.4 
25 
2.5 
4 
8 
6 
16 
Dates per- 
formed. 
Mai 
to 
. 1 
15. 
Apr 
to 
. 1 
15. 
June 1 to 
Sept. 15. 
June 1 to 
15. 
June 16 
to Aug. 
31. 
No\ 
to 
1 
15. 
a Operations usually hired. 
