Bulletin 03. 
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<3 
was sown with an ordinary hand drill, sowing eighteen pounds to 
the acre, covering an inch or less in depth, in double rows one foot 
apart, separated by a space two feet wide. Then, with one horse 
and a shovel plow, a trench was made in this space, the dirt being 
tin own on both sides to finish covering the seed. The rows are 
worked over quickly with a rake or hoe, and the seeding is complete. 
Beet seed requires considerable moisture to produce germination, 
hence, in a dry spring, water may be turned in these ditches and 
beets brought forward, independent of dry weather. 
To facilitate irrigation, rows should not be more than three 
hundred feet in length, preferably less. It should not be necessary 
to drench the upper end in order to moisten the lower end. 
Proper cultivation consists in hand hoeing or working with a 
fine-toothed cultivator, the surface of the ground being stirred as 
soon after irrigation as practicable. From experience at this Sta¬ 
tion it seems safe to state that the more careful cultivation, with the 
proper amount of water when needed, the more sugar per acre. 
Bulletin No. 36 discusses the general outlook for the sugar in¬ 
dustry in Colorado. The question of market for the sugar which 
might be produced in the State is answered as follows: “ To produce 
the sugar consumed by the inhabitants of Colorado would require 
five factories of large size, employing two hundred men each, who, 
with their families, would represent about four thousand people, It 
would require the growing of sugar beets on fifteen thousand .acres 
of land, and add more than three hundred dollars to the income of 
each of two thousand farms.” 
Touching the question of profit, the writer says : “If prices are 
such as to make the business profitable anywhere , then it will pay in Colo¬ 
rado.” 
The irrigable portions of Colorado below 5,000 feet in altitude 
and east of the Rocky Mountains, possess the best possible climate 
for the growth of sugar beets, as do many of the valleys of the west¬ 
ern portion of the State, but the parks of Colorado are too cold for 
the sugar beet to be grown with profit. 
The common cause of failure among beginners is a lack of 
thorough preparation of the soil. The plowing should be done in 
the fall, subsoiling to fifteen or eighteen inches. If this is done, a 
thorough harrowing just before planting will be all that is needed. 
If the plowing is done in the spring it should be delayed until 
just before planting. The planting is done with a drill. An ordi¬ 
nary wheat drill may be used, but there are special drills for plant¬ 
ing beets. Twenty-four inches is recommended as the distance be¬ 
tween rows, being none too far apart for irrigation. 
