Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1895-04-18
CULTURE OFTHESUGAR BEET
By u. w, Wiley. Chemist Of the Depart
nent Of Agriculture.

sugar beet reaches its highest develop
ment in north temperate ATTITUDES.
So far as the production of the beet
with high tonnage is concerned. il is
found that il will grow far to the
south, but beets grown in suchslocali-
ties, upon the whole, are less rich in
sugar than those grown further north.
1t must be remem bered, however.
that the expressions north and south
do not refer to any absolute parallels
Of latitude, but rather to isothcrmal
lines, which in many eases run
obiiquelV to the parallels OF latitude
ana III some cases cross them at right
angles. As a result Of many wears Of
careful experimentation, it may be
said that as far as temperature alone Is
concerned the sugar beet attains its
greatest perfcctionin zone of vary
ing width through the center of which
passes the isothermal line of 700 f.
for the months OF June. July and
August.
This isothermal line, for the United
States. begins at the city of New York
and passes up the Hudson River to
Albany; thence turning westward it
runs near Syracuse aud passes in a
southwesteriy direction, touching the
shore OF Lake Erie near Sandusky.
Ohio; turning then in northwesterlv
direction it passes into MICHIGAN and
reaches its highest point in that state
near Lansing; then passing in a south
westerly direction it enters the state
OF Indiana near South Bend. passes
through Michigan City, then in
northwesterly course continues
through the cities of Chicago and
Madison, reaching it's highest point
near st. Paul, Minnesota. Thence it
passes in a southwesterly direction
until it enters the state of South Da-
kota, thence it turns again northwest
and reaches its highest point in Dakota
just above the forty-fifth parallel of
latitude where 1t crosses the Missouri
River. The isothermal line then turns
almost due south, following very
closely the one hundred and first de-
gree OF longitude until it leaves the
state of Nebraska near the northeast
corner Of Colorado, passing through
southwesterly direction through
Colorado, it reaches, at Pueblo, almost
to the one hundred and fifth degree of
west longitude whence it passes in
slightly southeasterly direction into
New Mexico, turns to the west, and
crosses the one hundred and fifth de
gree of longitude at about the thirty
second degree of latitude. Then turn
ing westward it passes in a very ir-
regular line through the states OF
California, Oregon and Washington.
Extending distance of 100 miles
on each side of this isothermal line i
a belt, which, for the present, may be
regarded as the beet sugar area of the
United States. There are doubtless
many localities lying outside of this
belt, both north and south, in which
the sugar beet will be found to thrive;
but this will be due to some excep-
tional qualities of the climate or soil
and not to any favorable influence of
a higher or lower temperature A
mean tempature of zoe f. in the sum
mer. however, must not be regarded
as the only element of temperature
which is to be taken into considera-
ton. In those localities where the
winters come early and are of unusual
severity will be found greater difficult
ties in the production of sugar from
the sugar beet than in those localities
where the winters are light and mild,
although the mean summer tempera-
ture Of both localities may be repre-
scented by zoe f. As an illustration
OF this difficulty may be cited northern
Nebraska and South Dakota where the
winters are Of great severity and
southern California where there is
scarcely any winter at all
Although conditions o. temperature
must be taken into consideration III
selecting sites for beet-sugar factories.
vet in addition to the thermal condi-
tions must also be taken those Of rain.
The sugar beet requires a certain
amount Of moisture in order to pro-
duce its normal crop This moisture
must be derived either from prccipi-
tation, in the usual way. or else the
soil must be Of that rarticular quality
which will allow subterranean moist
uIt ~ fEdEH Inc TDOllebS OF bDt DIailIS.
Soil OF this latter kind appears to
exist in many localities in California
where beets are grown absolutely with
out rain. The porous and sandy soils
surrounding many Of the western
rivers, such as the Platte River in
Nebraska and the Arkansas River in
Kansas, also appear to furnish a .suf-
y
ure to produce a good crop in CON
nection with the rainfall, Of which
little is expected in those localities
during the summer months We
should, however, endeavor to secure
localities for the growth OF the sugar
beet where we may expect an average
summer precipitation Of from 2 to
inches per month. There are many
conditions Of agriculture under which
lie beet becomes quite Independent of
extremes Of precipitation. The beet
may thrive with very little rainfall or