24 BULLETIN" 693, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
as a part of production. Where rolling follows the thinning, the soil 
is made firm about the young plants, and it is stated by some who are 
familiar with beet culture that this practice promotes growth. 
DITCHING. 
A certain amount of ditch cleaning must be done annually on an 
irrigated farm. This may include work on the lateral which carries 
water from the main canal to the farm proper, or it may take into 
account the removal of silt and other debris from the distributing 
laterals on the farm. Whatever work is done should be divided 
evenly between those enterprises to which the operation is directly 
chargeable. The sugar beet should bear a fair proportion of this cost. 
This cleaning does not require much time, consequently the total 
charge for any given farm is small. In some cases the operation 
includes both man labor and horse labor; on other farms the work 
involves hand labor only. Frequently a plow may be used to advan- 
tage in removing the accumulated silt from the bottom of the lateral. 
A V-shaped machine is sometimes substituted for or used after the 
plow. The ditching is usually performed a few weeks before it is 
necessary to make a run of water. In procuring these estimates on 
ditching practice, only such work as the operator applied directly to 
the beets was put into the record. The data with reference to ditching 
were tabulated in two classes, the first including those farms where 
man labor only was involved, the second embracing the work which 
required both man labor and horse labor. Some growers did a part 
of the ditching with man and horse labor and completed the task 
with hand labor only. 
One hundred and forty-five reports contained information relative 
to the use of man labor only in connection with ditching practice. 
A few farmers in the Provo and Garland districts cleaned the ditches 
twice during the season. However, on the majority of these farms 
the work was done but once. The Garland records showed that 2.07 
man hours were expended per acre, involving a cost of 41 cents. 
The Provo estimates gave 1.86 man-hours per acre with an attendant 
cost of 35 cents, while Idaho Falls growers devoted 1.01 hours tc 
ditching at a cost of 20 cents per acre. 
Eighty-six records reported on ditching practice with both man 
labor and horse labor. The ditches were cleaned once during the 
season. The man labor varied from one- third to six-tenths of an hour 
per acre, and the horse labor ranged from eight-tenths of an hour to 
1.19 hours per acre. The Garland estimates reported the maximum 
time for this operation, while the minimum requirement was given fot 
the Idaho Falls growers. The Provo labor for ditching was slightly 
higher than that of Idaho Falls. At Garland the cost amounted to 
24 cents per acre; at Provo, 17 cents; and Idaho Falls, 16 cents per 
acre. 
