The Holly chieftain., 1900-02-09

til the beets show they require mois-
turc, USUALLY letting them suffer
few days., and by 50 doing it alwaw
gives US a nice shaped, long tapering
beet. II the first watering Is applied
too early we usually have short
spriggv, undesirable beet. Too much
manure or alkali will produce the
same effect on sugar bects. We gen.
orally have to make cross bitches on
our beet fields on about every 20 to 30
rods, depending upon the slope and
nature Of the land. II we run the
water farther than this 1t usually sat
urates the upper part of the field too
much, before the lower end gets SUM-
cient. Great care must be taken In
turning the water on the beets not to
force too much into the burrows, caus-
ing 1t to flood or overflow. and this
must be avoided II possible. There
fore it is essential to select land for
this crop, as much as possible, with a
nice slope. We always cultivate the
rows after each watering as soon as
we can, cultivating them from to
inches deep. This allows the beets to
develop, and also helps to retain the
moisture much longer than it would
Otherwise. Care must be taken all
through the season not to hill up the
beets, or break of the leaves We
generally water our beets two to four
times during the season, and it usual
" takes about 20 to 30 davs after wa
tering before the beets are ready for
harvesting"
Mr.. Morgan Woodhouse, another
Utah grower of experience, writes:
"My idea is to let them go as long In
the spring without water as you dare,
say until the bottom leaves wilt down
and tops begin to change from light
or yellowish green to dark green.
After the first watering they should |
be kept wet. would not be in favor
of going to an extreme, but l would
not allow them to get dry il could
help it. The length Of time between
waterings should vary, according to|
thu land, from to IA days. The last
watering should be about the last Of
August or first of September"
Another expert. Mr.. Samuel Tavlor,
says: 81 do not believe it is good to
irrlgate too SOON. Let your beets get
up and get them thinned, letting
them get pretty good start. Whep
the lower leaves begin to wilt and the
tops turn dark green. the water
should be first applied. OF course
when you start you must keep 1t up.
Three or four waterings will make q
good crop of beets. -Four are better
than three, and If you can get four
good irrigations on crop Of beets l
am satisfied they will mature and
make good crop. With respect to
the last watc ing; one year we were
told to stop watering too early and we
lost great many beets by 1t. would
water the last time about the last of
August, II watered up to this date the
beets will be all right"
In Nebraska it is felt that proper
irrigation will insure the crop, but ex-
perience has so far been limited. Mr..
Weitzer, who was field manager for
the Norfolk factory, summarizes the
matter as follows; I'VE have taken
much interest in irrigation Of sugar
beets. Last year there were raised 40
acres by irrigation, and the results
were very satisfactory, as well in quail
ity as in quantity. Beets should never
be irrigated until they show actual
need of it. No water should be put
on them as long as there is natural
supply of water in the ground. for too
much water Is almost as disastrous as
not enough. After you have once
commenced putting water on land it
dries out more quickly than before
and will require watering the second
time. The number Of irrigations that
crop requires during the season de-
ponds entirely upon local surround
ings, nature and condition Of land.
The first irrigation should not be be-
fore the middle of June, and no water
should be applied after the first week
in August. Beets should never be ir-
rigated In the fall. for irrigating at
that time will bring forth new tops
and give the roots second growth.
which Is disastrous to the quality. A
very advantageous method Of irriga-
tion is this: When the spring is very
flry. to soak the land from the irripa-