The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-10-27
SUGAR BEETs.
The Time Foe Harvesting - storing
or SilOinE-FrOxen Beets.

The Time Foe Harvesting - storing
or Siloing-Frozen Beets.
The time Of harvesting is governed
by the time of ripening Of the beets.
This ripening is made apparent by the
outside leaves of the plant taking on
yellowish tinge and dropping to the
ground. An experienced eye soon
learns to detect field of ripe beets
that is ready for harvesting. The beets
having now finished their work, the
next step of the grower must be gov
erned by his locality. If he is in Sec
ton where there is probability of
rain, the beets must be harvested and
placed in silos. This should be the case
in most of the sections where rain con-
ditions prevail. Such places usually
have heavy rains in September and Oc-
tober, followed by more or less warm
weather. The effect Of the rain will be
to cause the beets to begin growing
again, and, if the rains are heavy and
followed by warm days, it is possible
for whole crop to be lost, so far as
fitness for factory purposes is con-
cerned.
1t is the custom in such localities to
haul the beets to the factory if posi-
BILE. If it is not possible to do this,
they are gathered and placed in long
ricks or piles on the surface Of the
ground. The bases Of these ricks or
piles are from three to three and half
| feet wide and the height from three to
four feet, tapering toward the top.
| Along each side of each rick several
| burrows are run with a stirring plow
| in order to loosen the dirt. The ricks
are then completely covered with this
dirt by the use of shovels. This cover
ing is put on to the depth of about six
| inches, occasional air spaces or ventila-
tors being left on the tops Of the ricks,
| for which purpose is commonly used
tiling or small elongated wooden boxes
or simply straw, the object being to
prevent fermentation.
Storing the beets in this way Is call
ed "siloing," and the ricks or piles are
called 'silos." These silos are closely
watched, in order that no heating may
occur to cause fermentation, which
lessons the sugar content of the beet.
The ricks are opened occasionally by
way of inspection. 1t is the aim Of
the grower, as already stated, to get
the beets to the factory as soon as pos
sible, but this will depend on "his
turn" In case he is delayed in this
way until cold weather comes on, these
silos are covered with straw, manure
or something of that sort, and then an
additional amount of dirt is thrown on
the straw covering. In this way 1t
has been found that the beets will keep
in very good condition until the last Of
January if necessary.
In this connection Charles f.. Sayler,
a special investigator for the depart
ment of agriculture and authority for
the foregoing, states that it does not
necessarily follow that the beets are
lost even if they should be frozen solid.
as the factories can readily work them
frozen, and, in fact, some factory SUI
perintendents say they prefer to work
frozen beets. The one thing to be guard
ed against in the case Of frozen beets Ia
thawing. In California, where rain OF
freezing is not liable to occur, after the
beets have ripened and have gone into
this state of rest they are allowed to re-
main in the field until the grower ID
notified by the factory that his beets
must be delivered, when they are har-
vested and taken to the factory. Thus
the expense of SLIDING is avoided.