Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-11-08
a PROFITABLE CROP.



Of Considerable Income.
Although considered hard crop to
raise. do not find beets 30 whei.
properly managed. as nearly all the
work can be done with horses, except
perhaps once boeing. We find here
that they succeed best on rich. loamy
soil and we like TO have 1t MANFRED in
the winter If possible. as the spring
rains dissolve it and leave it in good
condition for spring blowing, which
should be done as early as possible.
We drag it down and then let it lie
until after corn planting, which gives
the weeds and grass chance to start.
Then we take spring-tooth harraw
or cultivator and thoroughly work
II up. Three horses and good tool
In this way will kill more weeds than
six will after the beets are planted.
and it will give the beets the start OF
the weeds. We run smoothing har-
row over the lot in the opposite direc-
ton from that which we wish to SOW it
use a grain drill to SOW mine, al
though any good drill could be used.
Horse power is much cheaper here
than manual labor. We SOW in rows
twenty inches apart, by using
the middle and next to outside hoes
on an eleven hoe drill. which brings it
right to run the wheel in the wheel
mark coming back. setting the hoes so
as to SOW them about one inch and a
half deep. By raising up the wheel
and turning it one can adjust the
speed of the feed-cups SO as to drop
one seed about every two or three
inches. In this way it takes five or
six pounds OF seed per acre, which is
about two pounds more than is used
in drilling by hand. but we find it
cheaper to cut out two plants than to
transplant one. Next we roll the
ground, which packs the earth
around the seed and causes it
to terminate quicker. When the
plants are up so as to see
the rows plainly, cultivate. We use
the narrowest teeth, and with a good
steady horse one can do good work
even when the plants are quite small.
After they are up two or three inches
high we take sharp hoes and chop out
the extra plants SO as to have them
eight to ten inches apart in the row,
which can be done rapidly and well
after little experience. We keep the
ground well stirred, as they need a
warm mellow soil to do their best.
We aim to cultivate them as often as
once a week through the season and
seldom are obliged to hoe them more
than once; sometimes not at all
We leave them in the ground as long
as we can. in the fall, without danger
of freezing. then take one-horse pillow
and throw a furrow away from botf
sides of each row, running as close to
| the row as convenient without touch
| ing the beets. Then we pull them ou
| and throw them into a wagon which
can be driven alongside so as to b.
kept close at hand. drawing them di
rectly to the pit or cellar. We TOT
them off with large knife as they arr
unloaded. They can be handled yer,
| fast in this way. We plant some o
the Globe kinds. as they are mucl
easier to harvest and nearly as pro
ductive as the large, long kinds. 4
barn cellar, or pit. is the best plac
to store. being careful not to cover to-
warm and giving ventilation by plac
ing punches of straw in the top OF tn
heap. projecting through the cart
until cold weather. If warm, the
sweat and rot When cold weathe
comes we put a coat of horse nanur
on. which is good covering for them
lost one pit of about three hundre
bushels last winter from covering to
deep in the fall before winter set in
Cor Ohio Farmer.