The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1891-01-29
FACTS FOR THE FARMER.
ABOUT CULTlVATING THE
SUGAR BEET,
Interesting Letter from an Expert in the Indus.
try In Cnlifornia-Don't Winter Too
Many Fowls-Boiling Grain for
StOck-Old Horses.
Cultivating Sugar Beets.

A. A. Bertrand. of Moro Colo Ranch,
Cal, writes to the Rural Home about
cultivating the sugar beet The in
dustry in California, he says, is still in
its infancy and the methods employed
are very crude, yet it will compare
iavorably with any other part of the
country. but it is for information more
than anything else that has prompted
me to write this article. In the first
place, I will describe the Moro Colo
Ranch and it's methods. This Is the
largest beet farm in the world, con-
tanning l, 500 acres and owned by Claus
Spreckles, the sugar king. 1t is sitr-
ated on Monterey Bay, at the mouth of
the Salinas river. ten miles from Wat
sonville, whore Mr.. Spreckles has a
large sugar factory. The farm Is of
such magnitude as to cause Mr.
Spreckles to build n railroad from
Jacksonville to the ranch, where it Is
carried to any part of the field by port
able tracks. In addition to this it is
the only ranch Of any size that employs
white labor exclusively. The facts
hero given were furnished me by w.
Y. Galley, the originator and main
stay OF the place.
First we will refer to the preparing
OF the soil, he says: my opinion
about blowing is, that the ground
should be plowed deep, at least ten
inches, early in the fall, after the first
rain, so that the soil will be we'll ex-
posed to the atmosphere, and be thor
oughly warmed by the time it is ready
for planting, using five horse sulky
plow. Let it then be we'll narrowed
and cultivated, and if the weather has
not been too wet this blowing will
suffice.
''Then in the spring as soon as the
weather will allow, we plant, using
planter, sowing in rows fifteen inches
apart and about two inches deep, using
from two and one-half to six pounds
per acre according to the size of the
seed. If the soil pulverizes we'll there
ds no need to soak the seed, if not you
must soak it well for forty eight hours.
This seed classified into Nos. and 2
before placing in the soak. Tie
planter itself is an original idea of
Mr. W. G. Waters, superintendent Of
the Western Beet Sugar Co. There
arc no patents on it, being for the
benefit of the beet grower, and is the
most complete in existence.
''As soon as the beets have put forth
four or six leaves the thinning
process commences. This is all done
BY hand, the men going through pull
i1g, all the surplus beets, leaving
good plant every six or eight inches.
This will cost from Sc to $40 per acre,
according to the stand.
'Then comes tho oultivating. This
Is also done by hand, using the hoe,
rs there Is no machine that will
cultivate fifteen inchea The men are
kept going back ward and forward as
long as there is u weed in sight
In California beets rlpen In from
four to five months.
Nov we come to the harvest First
We use plow that loosens the beet.
This year we had twelve plows going,
paying the men that handled them 81
per day behind the plowa We had
twenty-five men at $1.10 per day to
pull the beets and spade up those the
plows failed to loosen. They placed.
them in piles for the toppers, who
were furnished with knives to remove
the green tops and parts OF beets that
had been exposed above ground.
OF these we had fifty, and they re-
caived II cents per box, which aver
aged from III to lis lbs, according to
the soil These boxes are removed by
trucks operated by two men, a driver
Who received 81. 10, and a helper who
received 81, the driver giving the
topper a check for every box he re-
moved He then conveyed tho boxes
TO portable track; run TO any part of
the field, where they were dumped in
10 cars he receiving check for evory
box he hauled, keeping perfect tally.
Tho cars were then drawn to the main
line Of the P. V. narrow-guage rail-
road. where the engine picked them
up and carried them to tho sugar
factory at jacksonville. Here a
sample of from four to five beets are
taken together with the number of
the car and sent to the laboratory
where the chemist polarizes them.
The factory allowing 81 per ton for II
per cent. and 50 cents per ton for
every additional per cent
lit would take too much of your VAL
liable space to describe the process
they undergo in being reduced to
sugar, 80 will wind up by giving you
an idea OF the yield OF Moro Colo
Ranch. We will take a sixty acre
tract saw harvested. The yield was
1913 car loads or 81 tons, the beets
weighing from two to five pounds and
averaged from 81 to II per cent sac
char1ne matter. This is but fair
showing of the who1e field ~