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COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 
Directions for Harvesting the Crop. 
The plot of beets selected to compete for the prizes must contain, as nearly 
as possible, one-sixteenth of an acre, and must be all in one continuous piece. 
Call in a neighbor to witness harvesting and certify to the weights and measures. 
Begin on one side and harvest every other row, but no row harvested should 
be an or Hde row , i. e., if the plat selected is on the outside of the held, begin 
with the jcond row and harvest every other row. 
Cut off the tops of the beets just at the base of the leaves, Shake the beets 
free from any loose dirt, and weigh the crop in this condition. This is the one 
referred to later as the “gross weight.” 
Throw the beets into a pile and roughly divide the pile in the middle, 
and again divide one of the halves in the middle, giving one-fourth of the origi¬ 
nal crop. Throw this fourth into a pile and treat it the same way, so that you 
have a fourth of a fourth, or about one-sixteenth of the crop. Weigh this lot 
and record it as the “gross weight of one-sixteenth of crop.” Scrape these beets 
with a dull knife until they are free from dirt, fibrous roots and any stubs of 
leaves that may have been left on the crown. Weigh again and call this the “net 
weight of one-sixteenth of crop.” 
Count the number of beets in this last lot, and then select from it four to 
eight beets that together will weigh about eight pounds, and will be representa¬ 
tive of the crop, i. e., select big, medium and little, good shaped and bad, so as to 
get a fair sample of the lot. Weigh these beets together very carefully , and 
record this as “weight of sample for analysis.” 
Wrap each of the beets separately in paper and then do them up in two 
packages, not to exceed four pounds in each package, sew each package up se¬ 
curely in cloth and attach the mailing tag, which will enable the package to be 
sent postage free. 
The harvesting, weighing and preparing the sample for analysis should 
all be done on the same day, and as quickly as possible to prevent drying out. 
Three blanks are sent you; one to be filled out and enclosed in each package, 
and the other to be kept by you for your own information. 
Mail the sample for analysis as soon as possible after it is ready. The re¬ 
ceipt of the sample for analysis will be acknowledged by return mail. 
Do not harvest the rest of the plot until you receive word that your sample 
and records are satisfactory. By this means it may be possible to correct mis¬ 
takes, if any have accidently been made. 
It will be seen from the instructions, that it was desired that the 
crops be harvested and sampled between October 15 and November 
1. In the case of Logan county, the crops were harvested the last 
week in September, so that they could be exhibited at the county 
fair. The crops were not then ripe and the results are much poorer, 
both in quantity and quality, than would have been obtained had 
the beets remained in the ground a month longer. At the request 
of the present writer, two of these fields were but partly harvested, 
and the rest of the beets were pulled the latter part of October, 
when the beets in the other counties were being harvested. In each 
case the beets tested in sugar more than three per cent higher than 
during September. 
It was desired that the contest be put as nearly as possible on 
a commercial basis, i. e., the prizes be awarded to the crops in the 
order of their real value for sugar making purposes. It was neces¬ 
sary then, to take into account three things: The weight of the 
