12 BULLETIN 748, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
clover crop. Twenty-nine per cent of the men in the Caro, 32 per 
cent in the Alma, and 56 per cent in the Grand Rapids district, and 
only 5 per cent in northwestern Ohio applied both manure and com- 
mercial fertilizer. With very few exceptions, the growers who ap- 
phed commercial fertilizers covered their entire beet acreage. even 
though a portion of the acreage had received an application of 
manure. 
Beet drills with fertilizer attachments were used to apply the 
fertilizer in the drill row at the time of seeding. so that the labor 
requirements for fertilizing are included under planting practice. 
A majority of the men interviewed reported a special trip to town 
after fertilizer. The labor cost for hauling amounted to about 20 
cents per acre. The rate of application ranged from 130 pounds to 
170 pounds per acre and consisted in most cases of a prepared mix- 
ture containing about 2 per cent nitrogen, 8 per cent phosphoric 
acid, and 3 per cent potash. The cost per acre for the above applica- 
tion ranged from $1.75 to $2. 
PLOWING. 
Sugar beets require a well-prepared, deep. firm seed bed. To ob- 
tain this the land should be in good condition at the time of breaking 
and the depth of plowing should be sufficient to allow the long tap- 
root of the sugar beet to penetrate some distance into the soil. The 
depth of plowing varied from 6 inches to 9 inches, with an average 
depth of about 7.5 inches for all districts studied. (Table V.) 
Tt is generally conceded that fall plowing of sugar-beet land is to 
be preferred, and this was found to be the practice on a considerable 
number of the farms visited. 
In the Caro district 56 per cent of the men reported fall plowing. 
20 per cent spring plowing, and 24 per cent did a portion of the work 
in the fall and the remainder in the spring. A small proportion 
practiced fall plowing in the other districts, but this was mainly 
because of lack of time to do the work before cold weather set in. 
The spring plowing was all done early in April,'or as early as the 
jand was in condition to work. 
TABLE V.—Plovwing. 
Acres in beets per Hours of labor per 
baa = 2 | farm. acre. Labor 
District. | cost per 
of all | acre 
records. Total. | Plowed. Man. Herse. | 
Soumny e F ns te ee ee ee ee 96 14. 94 | 14. 54 5. Ti 14.34 | $2.50 
PDair ee te ee oe Re 92 9.44 9. 21 4.85 11.87 | 2.16 
Grand: Rapids2-.30 se hee A ee eee 199 6.40 6.40 5.19 | 13.52 | 2.39 
Northwestern Ohio -.--. Pe Se ee ee Sy 100 15. 64 15. 29 5.59 | 14.58 2.60 
