The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-03-09

tivating or cross blowing the field early in
the season because the hardy weeds put
in an appearance almost before frost
leaves the ground. This is in favor of
the farmer if he will give the subject the
proper view, as he can destroy the weeds
by loosening the soil, allowing warmth to
enter, thus forcing the weeds to germi-
nate, so as to destroy them before the
seeding of grain is done. The earlier the
weeds can be started the fewer there will
be later on if the cultivator is used fire.
quently after the weeds begin to appear.
How to Grow Sugar Beta.
Soil and Location-1n general, a sandy
or clay loan, rich in lime, located along
the mean temperature line for the sum-
mer months of 20 degrees is. best. Stiff
clay soils are apt to force too much
of the growth out of the ground. Very
rich soils generally produce too rank a
growth. Local conditions, however, in
huence growth to such an extent that an
experimental culture and analysis is nee
essary in sections where sugar beets have
never been grown.
Rotation-Beets should follow a cereal
crop, and be followed by clover.
Neutrality-suspicious. stable manure
may be applied as a top dressing in the
fall, and plowed under.
Preparation of Ground-Follow pillow
in fall with subsoiler, breaking the
ground both ways with two-horse cult
vator, as deeply as possible, followed by
narrowing. Keep up until ground is
thoroughly pulverized.
Planting should be done as early as
possible. say May to June /, according
to locality. Always harrow the ground
tn 0f
seed per acre. Seed should be planted at
an absolutely uniform depth Of to ~
inches in rows Is to Is inches apart, and
is best done by drill Use the best seed
procurable. If it rains before the beets
are up it will be necessary to- cross-har-
row very lightly to break crust.
Thinning the beets have made
four leaves, with sharp hoe cut the
rows into buches about i to 8 inches
then thin the punches by hand to one
strong plant each.
Cultivation should be shallow, and com.
mence as early as possible, using har.
row-tooth cultivator. Cultivate every
ten days, each time little further away
from the plant. Before the leaves cover
the ground give a final and deep cultiva'
ton. DO not disturb the plants after this
until maturity. Weeds must be kept
down. Give d-hoeing when necessary
to do so.
Harvesting the beet is ripe, as
shown by the dropping and change OF
color of leaves to yellowish green, run
subsoil plow between the rows. This
will loosen the beets in the ground, when
they should be removed by hand. There
is machine made for doing this work.
Topping the beet is removed
from the ground the top should be cut
off suuarely with sharp knife, below
the juncture of the leaves, removing the
part that grew above ground. 1t is the1
ready for delivery to the factory.
Neutrality-suspicious. tons per acre have
been frequently raised in California, but
twelve to fifteen tons will probably be :
general average for fair land.
Cost of cultivation will vary with loca
conditions, but should be about $35 OF
$40 per acre at least.
Some Reasons Why-Deep blowing i:
absolutely necessary, otherwise the tai
root of the beet cannot penetrate the
ground, but will divide into several roots
making malformed specimen and fore
ing the beet too far out of ground.
A beet weighing about ~ pounds il
the standard to be tried for. The larges
ton of the beet. the smallest in the cen
trail portion. Consequently very large
beet will run low in sugar percentage
On the other hand, very small beets arr
generally immature and fibrOus. Tht
size must be controlled by experiment il
varying the distance in the rows between
beets. Careful preparation Of the grounn;!
is essential: -ntherMzise moor tstand-- vii
factory. The portion Of the beet CROWN,
above ground contains most of the i'm
puritieS, consequently it should be GU
off in topping This point is the hardes
to learn. The portion of beet taken t.
the factory contains 26 per cent, ant
the top and leaves "a per cent. of tn
elements taken from the soil. Conse
quently, leave the tops in the field ant
if they must be fed, see that the manure
comes back to the field. Letting beet
lie around in the sun spoils them, there
fore do not dig more than you can handl,
and deliver in day. Beets must b.
protected from frost, and if delivery can
not be made when they are dug an,
topped, they should be heaped in pile
and covered with straw or earth, accord
ing to the severity Of the weather. This
however, is generally attended to at TIN
factory. The beet pulp, either fresh O
preserved in silos, makes a valuable cat
tie food in connection with hay. Beet
containing less than IL per cent. suga
are net wanted by the factory. The suga
percentage should run from ~ to 16 Pc
cent, and the purity from 80 to IS pc
cent. Unless you are within distanc,
from a factory that will allow your max
ing delivery to it, it is useless to under
take the growth of beets on a commercial
scale, as the sugar cannot be extracted
except by an expensive plant. Suga
beet cultivation being largely matter
of experience, one should be content t,
start with small patch. He will gail
the experience at less cost to his pocket
E. 0. Weed in Orange Judd Farmer.
Advantages of Early ShearinR.
There are many questions of interest t,
the average farmer and sheepman of thi
country and at the present time nom
more important than the winter care O
ewes, rams and lambs. At this tim
farmers are, and will be, seriously think
ing Of shearing. Two or three years ag
several sheepmen of rank. conceived tn
idea of shearing early. They were mel
from Southern states or men who ha,
very warm sheep barns and could crow,
them so the sheep would not suffer from
cold. But they have to crowd the shee]
too closely, as sheep by nature like, an,
must have plenty of fresh air even aftc
they are SHARED. A great many though
IL tHese nOteu Sneepmen found 1t prOht
able to shear in February and Marcl
they could do the same, so they tried it
and while some found it successful, 9th
ers failed utterly. One of the best an,
most frequently offered arguments fo
early shearing is that it. gives the lamb
a better chance to nurse. That is al
right in the case of early lambs, and We
this has not been found to be very seri
Gus source of trouble, for although it i
certainly easier for the young thing t.
find the teat it is the duty of every shep
herd who loves and cares for his sheep t
be on hand at this all-important and mos
critical period of the sleeps life and to d
everything possible for the comfort o
both mother and offspring. Another rea
sonable and often-advanced argument il
favor of early shearing, is that it ribs tn
sheep of ticks. This, though true, will pas
only as. a second-class excuse because ev
cry far-seeing and hustling sheepman us,,
ally sees that his flock is free from sucl
vermin in the fall and it would be Yer,
unbecoming of him to wake IN and fin.
such a state of affairs right in the mid
die of winter. OF course, there are ex
ceptional cases where, as result o
making additions to the flock, etc., a goo,
SheDhprd finds @himco1f tho n,r,, - e 4,