18 
BULLETIN 693, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Plowing is an essential step in the preparation of a first-class seed 
bed for beets. -Occasionally some of the fields of the farm may be 
left in such condition that it is not necessary to plow in the spring, 
but as a rule this operation is performed by all growers either in the 
autumn or at the beginning of the next crop year. In this investi- 
gation two farmers located at Idaho Falls prepared the land and 
planted beet seed without plowing. These were exceptions to the 
general practice. A summary of the plowing practice for the re- 
maining farms will be found in Table VII. 
* Table VII. — Plowing practice. 
District. 
Year. 
Num- 
ber of 
farm 
records. 
Acres 
plowed 
per 
farm. 
Average crew.> 
Hours per acre. 
Cost 
Man. 
Horse. 
Man. 
Horse. 
acre. 
1914-15 
1914-15 
1915 
79 
58 
35 
18.1 
14.3 
19.62 
1 
1 
1 
3.3 
3.2 
3.5 
5 
6 
4.4 
16.3 
18.9 
14.6 
$2.47 
3.03 
Idaho Falls 
2.34 
'& 
Fig. 3.— Fall plowing stubble land in Utah County, Utah. For the Provo and Garland districts this 
operation was performed mainly in the autumn. 
The 1-furrow sulky plow with a 14-inch bottom appeared in 108 
farm reports, thus indicating that this type was used very generally 
in these districts. Forty-one records included the 2-way plow, while 
21 reports show that the soil was turned with an ordinary walking 
plow. A minor part of the plowing was done with two, three, and 
four furrow gangs. The dominant crew consisted of one man and 
three horses. This combination was in evidence on 121 farms. In 
contrast with the average figures in the foregoing table, this crew did 
the plowing at a cost of $2.38 per acre at Garland, $2.86 per acre at 
Provo, and $2.19 at Idaho Falls. The horsepower was increased to 
