— 27 - 
lack of water, while the other beets were some of the finest 
seen during the season. They were finely shaped, thoroughly 
ripe, with nothing on the crown but the first growth of leaves. 
In other words the seepage from the reservoir had been 
constant through the season and just enough to give the 
beets all the water they wanted all the time. 
STAND. 
The number of beets to the acre determines in large 
measure the weight of the crop and its character. In gen- 
eral it can be stated that the more crowded the beets, the 
smaller they will be, but richer in sugar and of a higher 
purity; the farther apart, the larger and poorer they will be. 
There should be some medium ground that will produce 
the largest amount of sugar beets per acre. This is approxi- 
mately when there is one beet for each square foot of 
ground. If the rows are two feet apart, this would leave six 
inches between the plants. With eighteen inch rows, the 
distance between the beets would be increased to nine 
inches. 
The hardest part of beet raising is to get a full stand 
all over the field. More than half of those who raised beets 
in i8q 7 report the stand as thin or poor. Two pounds of 
beet seed contain enough seed to make a full stand on an 
acre of ground, but to get this stand in practice it is neces- 
sary to sow a much larger amount. The idea is to sow a 
good deal more than is needed and then thin out the plants 
to the required distance. It is customar}^ in the vicinity of 
factories to sow fifteen to twenty pounds of seed to the acre. 
The records show that different beet raisers in Colorado 
sowed varying amounts from two pounds to two hundred 
and seventy-five pounds to the acre. The average was nine 
pounds per acre, but more than half of the persons used less 
than eight pounds per acre or less than half the proper 
amount. 
The poor growth of the seed is due to lack of moisture 
in the ground, too deep planting, and poorly prepared ground. 
East of the range,, in Colorado, the first, due to the dry winters, 
will always be the greatest objection. It is possible to 
overcome this in two ways; by irrigating the field before the 
seed is planted, or by irrigating after the seed has been 
sown. The first is better if it can be done, but it is very 
likely that the second will come to be used as the regular 
method in growing beets for factory use. 
Quite a number of persons tried this method in 1897. 
Fifteen persons report the resulting stand as follows; one. 
