The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1915-07-15
UNNECESSARY LOSS IN J.,
THE BEET YIELDS


WASHINGTON, D. c., July IA
Variations in the yield of sugar beet'
under apparently similar conditions are
so striking that the United States De
|partment of Agriculture has recently
conducted an investigation into the
causes for these differences. The yield
of sugar beets per acre in the United
States is lower, with the exception OF
Russia, than that Of any Of the other
beet producing countries. In Germany
the average is 14.S4 tons; in Russia, g.
90; and in the United States, 1O.17
Climatic conditions, the character of
the soil, and the relative cost of labor
and land which prevents as much work
being spent on each acre as is done in
Europe, account, of course, for much of
the differences in yield. But even when
no such factors have to be taken into
consideration, in the same localities, on
soil of the same character, under cultur-
al methods that appear identical, there
is the widest range in the yield. 1t is
no uncommon thing to find one farmer
hauling 90 tons of beets from each acre
to the factory when his Aeighbor can
barley muster or 8.
The department of agriculture 8 in
vestigations into this problem, which
are published in department bulletin No
23S, were carried on in Utah for a per-
iod of 3 years. The Investigators reach
ed the conclusions that the variations
in yield were due to deficiencies of
stand. Previous Investigations had
shown that the ideal stand for sugar
beets may be taken as $4,000 plants per
acre-the result of leaving beets 8
inches apart in rows 20 inches apart.
A larger stand than this under ordinary
conditions causes overcrowding, a
smaller means waste of land. 1t was
found, however, that without actually
counting the plants, it was impossible to
distinguish between stands Of so, 60,
or 80 per cent of this standard.
The loss occurred in the termination
stand before thinning, during the pro-
cess of thinning and blocking, and dur
ing the cultural operations between
thinning and harvesting. In the de-
partment 8 experiment, it was found
that the termination stand sustained an
average loss Of close to 20 per cent. The
causes for this may be found in poor
preparation of the seed bed, imperfect
operation Of seed drills, late frosts, the
damping off disease, or the ravages Of
such pests as flea beetles, cut worms or
wireworms.
The greatest single source of loss in
the stands, however, was found to be
improper thinning. In this country this
work is usually done by poor class Of
hirde labor or else by contract. It is
seldom efficiently supervised and the
laborers receive the same pay whether
it is properly or improperly done. The
investigators found that almost invari-
ably the space left between the plants
was greater than the farmer intended it
to be, although this fact was not ap-
parent after the plants attained mod
crate growth. The average loss from
this source was estimated to be ap-
proximately rs per cent.
After thinning there was further loss
in the field before the harvest. Some
plants were destroyed by the hand hoe,
some by the horses, or by carelessness
with the cultivator. The total loss from
these sources was estimated at an aver
age of approximately z per cent. Thus,
in the experimental plots, which fur
nshed the data for the Investigations,
there was total deficiency of peer 50
per cent. in the, stand, with cores
ponding decrease in the yield.
The remedy fer this loss appears to be
|greater care. In particular, the elimin
alton of contract work is recommended,
since it is hardly possible to expect con.
tract laborers to exercise the proper
amount Of care and discretion. On
one European farm which is worked on
scientific principles, 40 cents additional
per acre is paid the men if $4,000 beets
plants remain in the field after the
second cultivation. The beets must be
IL inches apart in the row.
The significance of this investigation
| n the United States 10 increased by the
fact that it was carried on in district
where the average field per acre is II