The Delta independent., 1915-10-08
Harvesting the Sugar seets.

ne annual beet harvest is now on
and there are lot of people all over
the country who have not the least
idea of how the work is done. Har-
vesting consists of first loosening the
beets in the soil with an underground
puller or digger then pulling them out
by hand. The puller has two shanks
attached to beams for draft. The
shanks are shod at the lower ends
the soil by straddling a beet row.
As the puller is drawn forward the
beets pass between the points and
are caught at the rear of the machine
by heavy rods which rise at an angle
from the back of the points or from
the landsides to which the points are
attached, thus partially raising the
beets in the ground so that they may
be easily pulled. The roots are pulled
by hand and several rows thrown to-
gether in neat, regularly placed piles.
In some cases the topping is done
in the pulling operation but usually
the tops are cut off by hand, using
some one of the various types of
short. heavy bladed beet knives.
This topping is an important opera
ton. If too much crown is left on
the beet. the grower will not only
suffer a heavy tare, but he will lose
for feed. He will also haul a lot of
top for which he can receive no re
iurn, thus increasing the cost of
hauling On the other hand if too
much crown is cut off the tonnage
suffers. The top should be cut off
Just at the base of the crown. One
sharp. quick stroke of the knife prop
erly placed is sufficient to remove
the top. A little care right at this
point will save labor and increase the
rate of topping. Extra strokes re
quire extra time.
When the topping is finished the
Unless loaded Immediately into wag
ons for delivery. the piles should be
covered at once with leaves, straw
or earth to prevent loss of weight and
sugar through excessive evaporation
When a load of beets arrive at the
dump. factory representative takes
a sample for analysis and taring-
The analysis is done at the factory
and the taring on the grounds. Tar
ing consists in first weighing the
samples OF roots. together with dirt.
leaf stems and other debris. then in
washing out all soil, fibrous roots.
etc. and cutting the crown back to
the proper place. The beets are then
weighed back. the loss constituting
the tare Each load is docked a regu-
lar percentage of tare.
Since the factories are unable 20
take all the beets as fast as harvest
ed. a certain portion of the crop must
be sliced. This is done by placing
the beets in a large hole and covering
with straw and earth. leaving suitable
openings at the top for ventilation so
as to prevent heating and decay. #
made long and narrow, the pile may
be as large as desired. Round piles
should contain only few tons. The
object of siloing is to preserve the
heets for future delivery in as fresh
a state as possible To do this, heat
ing, freezing and thawing must be
prevented by suitable covering and
ventilation. When cars are not avail
able at the dumps the sugar company
now allows the beets to be unloaded
on the ground close by to be gathered
up later on and shipped and some
times this dumping is done at the
factory when the delivery is made di-
rect from the field.-Field and Farm.
A Preparcdness Policy.