38 BULLETIN 995, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the soil, thereby leaving it in good condition to form a satisfactory 
seed bed. In case of fall or winter plowing it is better to leave 
the ground rough, in order that it may catch or hold the winter 
snows and rains. 
The scraper and float. — In the irrigated sections leveling is some- 
times necessary to put the ground in condition to be irrigated. As 
pointed out on page 10, ground which is not level or nearly so can 
not be satisfactorily irrigated. This is especially true with a crop 
like sugar beets, which must be irrigated by the furrow method. If 
the ground is leveled before the plowing is done, a scraper is com- 
monly used. If the leveling is left until after the ground is plowed, 
an implement called a float is frequently used; this consists of two 
planks placed on edge and so framed together, about 6 or 8 feet 
apart, that they can be dragged sideways over the field as shown in 
Plate V, figure 2. This has the advantage of not only leveling the 
ground, but it tends to break up the small clods and puts the 
ground in good condition for further preparation of the seed bed. 
Frequently the Fresno scraper is used before plowing if the surface 
is very uneven, and the float is used after plowing in the same field. 
The two operations are quite distinct; the former is usually called 
scraping and the latter leveling. The scraping is necessary only 
when inequalities in the surface of the field are very marked. The 
time and labor spent in leveling will be repaid in the production of 
sugar beets, both from the standpoint of yield and from that of labor 
saved in irrigating. 
The roller. — Another implement of considerable importance in 
sugar-beet growing is the roller. There are two types of this imple- 
ment, as shown in Plate II, figures 1 and 2, namely, the smooth 
roller and the so-called corrugated roller. The latter is desirable in 
those localities where there are high winds, since the corrugations 
tend to prevent the soil from shifting under the influence of the 
wind. The chief advantage of the roller is its surface-packing 
effect. If the root bed is inclined to be loose the subsurface packer 
should be used immediately after plowing. As previously noted, 
the seed bed for sugar beets should be decidedly firm, for the two 
reasons, at least, that the firmness of the seed bed tends to hold the 
moisture, and at the same time prevents the sinking of the drill 
wheels, which would frequently result in planting the seed too deep. 
The seed bed that is unevenly firm or in which there are soft spots or 
areas is always unsatisfactory, as it results in an uneven start of the 
beet plants, which interferes with the handling of the crop. 
Harvesting tools. — At harvest time the beet lifter, a special im- 
plement not required in harvesting other crops, is necessary. (PL 
VII, fig. 1.) There are two forms of this implement, namely, the 
double-pointed lifter and the side lifter, In the former, one point 
