— 6 — 
the field. In returning, the left-hand wheel follows the 
track it made in crossing. In starting across the second 
time, the right-hand wheel should go sixteen inches from 
the track it last made. In this way all the drills will be 
twenty-four inches apart. 
The seed should be sown at the rate of about twenty 
pounds to the acre. This is far more seed than is needed if 
all grows, and a large part of it will be pulled up when the 
plants are thinned. But the most serious obstacle to a 
large crop is the lack of a full stand and the only way to get 
the ground well covered by plants is to start many more 
than are needed and thin out the surplus. 
The seed should be covered about an inch and a half 
deep. If seeding happens to be done just after a hard rain, 
when the ground is thoroughly wet, half an inch deep is 
sufficient; but usually, in Colorado, the ground is rather dry 
at time of seeding and unless the seed is covered quite deep, 
there will not be sufficient moisture to insure germination. 
The getting a good stand is by far the hardest part of rais- 
ing sugar beets. 
There are a few favored spots in Colorado where irri- 
gation water can be obtained very early in the spring. If then 
the plowing has not been done in the fall, it may be advisable 
to irrigate the ground thoroughly before plowing, and thus 
insure a good supply of moisture in the subsoil. 
If, after the seed is sown, there comes on such a dry 
spell that the seed has to be ‘‘irrigated up,” the chances of a 
.profitable crop are slight. Even in such a case, there is 
some chance of success if a small furrow is made six inches 
from the seed drill and a small head of water allowed to run 
for quite a while until it has wet the seed by soaking side- 
ways without running over the surface above the seed. 
This could only be done where the ground is well prepared 
and has a uniform slope. 
Planting may be done any time from the last of March 
to the middle of June. If planting for a factory, it is advis- 
able that both early and late planting be done, to extend the 
season for running the factory as long as possible. Where 
the beets are grown for stock food, the planting will be 
done at about the time of corn planting. Sugar beets sown 
‘the first of May will be ready for harvesting about the first 
of October. 
CULTIVATING. 
The first cultivation should take place as soon as pos- 
sible, that is as soon as enough of the plants show so that the 
rows can be followed. Many forms of cultivators are on the 
