Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1892-08-12
CULTIVATION OF BETS
SOME POINTS OF INTEREST
FOR BEET cULTivAToRS.
Experience o, German Farmers witch
seccharttefous Roots-An lnt~resting
Report ON the subjects Of C~ultivating,
hsrvesting, storing and seeding.

port ON the Subjects Of Cultivating,
nsrvesting, storing and seeding.
The Cultivation OF Sugar Beets.
A REToRT just received from United
States Consul Washburn. at Madge-
burg. Germany, upon the subject of
harvesting and storing sugar beets. is
of prime Importance just now. The
following is taken from the report for
U readers:
"lt is of course desirable to keep the
fields MS free from weeds during the
tmlddle of April) followed by night
frost. in May Frequently results in .
crop OF shoots, which, the increase of
juice suddenly arrested, develop into
seed stalks. These latter ought, when
practicable, to be upr0oted. Thew are
OF little use and absorb properties Of
Ii and soil which the normal plants
require. Moreover. the resulting seeds
are worthless. The roots themselves
are woody and dry, and very hard TO
work up in the factory. The French
varieties (notably the White Vilmorin)
are supposed to have . tendency to run
to seed, while on the other hand, it is
claimed that the German plants, like
the Klein WanZlebener, make o better
showing in this respect.
.The exact period for harvesting will
be determined by the climate and loca-
ton of the field. Here in Germany,
with q favorable summer, the beet
usually reaches its full development
in the first days of September, which
marks the beginning Of the German
campaign, this being reckoned from
September to September.
1.-THE signs Of maturity are best inai-
Gated by the fading OF the leaves to q
sort of yellowish green. followed by
their dropping and falling of. Har-
vesting may then be safely begun. An
other test is given in q handbook on
sugar received. l quote:
"sImMature roots cut across with q
knife rapidly change co.or on the sur
face laid bare by the knife, turning
first red, then br0wnish. and finally
quite dark. II the newly cut slices of
beet turn color on exposure 10 air, the
rtpening process il not completes: but II
they remain for some time unaltered,
or turn only slightly reddish, it may be
assumed that they are sufficiently ripe
to be taken up. by this means the
state OF maturity may be ascertained
with sufficient accuracy for practical
purposes
1.-THE ordinary fall rains are no longer
las formerly considered y detriment to
the quality Of the beet, and are even
welcomed as facilitating the labor of
harvesting. The decrease Of sugar
contents which results from continued
moisture is no direct loss, because the
beets gain in juice contents and thereby
promote superior factory results.
'"There are two methods Of harvest
ing, te., by hand and by machine. In the
work Ey hand the beet ia taken hold of
by b tops and removed from the soil
BY the aid Of q trowel or two-pronged
fork. The objection to this method is
less u~navoidablY bruised, thus increas-
ing their liability to early decay. In
mechanical harvesting machine which
loosens the soil on both sides Of the row
Is to be recommended. This renders
easy the pulling of the beet. Women
and cte.dren follow in the path of the
harvester and by Q clean stroke with q
knife or sickle remove the leaves and
neck. This part of the beet which has
pushed itself to the surface and been
exposed to the elements is always re-
moved. 1t is poor in sugar aud rich in
saline properties. In general, though.
whether exposed or not, u small part of
the neck is cut off. ! am aware TINT
his practice does not find favor in some
quarters. especially in France, for pre-.
clsely the same reason that bruising
with u spade is to be avoided, viz: it is
feared that the juice will escape and
that early decay Of the roots will follow
when stored. The necks must be cut
off some time before the beets 20 into
factory consumption, however, and the
Germans universally prefer to do it in
the field. In Austria the practice of re-
moving the waste parts when harvest
ing is still more general and amounts
to u trimming here and there all over
the bcets.
81 eets intended for immediate on
sumption are thrown into convenient
heaps and promptly transported to the
factory. Those roots, roots which are
TO be worked up later in the season
must in the mean time be properly pro-
tected. and precautionary measures
will vniY according to conditions of eli
mate and soil. The problem in to Sc.
care protection from frost and at the
same time To guard against the develop.
inent Of Two high u temperature in the
silOs. thus promoting termination and
the throwing out of . leaves. The
methods of storing in Germany are still
rather primative. The system most in
Soaue is 10 bmildNa simple trench OF
cellar, round or oblong in shape and
from 81 to 10 %centimeters u to III
inci.es) deep. The beets are thrown
into this cellar aud piled up above the
surface to y height of about 20 inches.
Its roots composing Ia outside layer
are packed with the tapering end down
wards. The mound is then covered
with y layer of leaves, and to this il
added about 8 inches of soil. subse.
quently the layer should be increased
to - feet. but not until the frosty
weather sets in and the frost has had
time to penetrate the original covering
Of : inches.
Experiments have been conducted
during recent years with = view to de.
vising more exact and surer methods Of
preserving the beets in sound condition
and at the same time keeping intact
their full sugar contents. A variety OF
methods have been tested. notably
Eentilattng shafts for the free admis-
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