The Ordway new era., 1910-10-28
IRRICATE THE BEETS
Time for Letting In Water De.
pends Largely on Weather.
% lona as Leaves Look Fresh and
Healthy II 10 Unnecessary to Ap-
ply Watsr-sIsns Of wiz In
dIeats Lack Of Moisture.

The time for the irrigations Of the
beet fields after they are thinned do
pends largely upon the weather. The
beet leaves being Of considerable size
and the weather warm the evaporar
on hot days they will wilt, but this 10
no sign that irrigation 10 required. Tor
on examination 1t will be found u.s.
ually that the soil contains consider
able moisture. says Field and Farm.
The beets wilt because the root is not
able to supply moisture to the leaves
fast enough to mako up for the evapo-
ration from their surfaces. As soon
AZ night falls and evaporation 10
greatly curtailed the leaves will as
sumo their normal condition. So long
a. the leaves look fresh and healthy
in the early morning It 10 unnecessary
to apply water. but should the plants
show signs Of wilt at that time irri.
cation 10 necessary. From two to
four applications Of water should be
sum Client for the season except on
very porus soil. where the moisture
quickly drops below the point where
the roots can reach 1t. Under such
conditions more frequent irrigations
are necessary. In many OF our II
rigated districts there is q question ~
to the relative advantages Of irrigat-
ing In the daytime or at night. In
some sections in seasons like this
when the supply II limited 1t 10 neces-
sary to use water for the entire period
In which It can be obtained. so that
day and night irrigation is practised.
Again, many growers object to night
work, as 1t deprives them Of sleep
and It IL more difficult to control the
water properly. Those who advocate
night irrigation. however. have found
that they obtain better results. espe-
cIally when the temperature OF the
water is low. Their contentious are
that the water will go farther due to
less evaporation; that the water Is
warmer at that time. on account OF Its
exposure to the sun during the day
and finally, that there is far less
danger of scalding or drowning out
than during the hot period Of the day.
All OF these contentious are well
borne out by the facts. 1t may be
stated also that the proper leveling
of the field and the use OF boxes or
tubes for distributing the water, to
the burrows. as practised by our best
farmers, render night irrigation no
more difficult than day irrigation.
while results are generally better. The
final watering, as q rule. should be
given four or six weeks before har-
vest, SO that there will be ample time
for the roots to mature and store the
sugar. In this connection 1t may be
well to call attention to the fact that
If the beets mature during warm
weather, some time before they are
harvested. the percentage of sugar
will decrease gradually. Experience
alone will decide the best practise to
have the crop ready for the factory
when It is at the proper stage Of ripe
ness. The decision as to this latter
question is entirely with the field men
employed by the factory. At this stage
they may visit the various fields in
their districts and select beets. usual
ly five or six. at various points In the
field. These are turned over to the
factory chemist for analysis and II the
sugar percentage and purity are suffl-
ciently high orders are issued to har-
vest the crop. The picture on this
page shows field near scott's Bluff.
Neb.. on the South Platte river, as
taken by Mr.. Wallace, the editor of
the Valley OF the Nile. and he ought
to know thing or two about 1t.