The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-05
UNNECESSARY LOSS IN BEET
YIELDS.

Variations in the yield of sugar
beets under apparently similar condi-
tons are so striking that the United
States Department 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 1884 tons:
In Russia, 500. and in the United
states. 1917. Climatic conditions. the
character Of the soil and the relative
cost of labor n 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 fac
tors have to he taken into c~onsidera.
ton. in the same localities. on soil OF
the same character. under cultural
methods that appear identical, there
Is the widest range in the yield. II IL
no thing to find one farmer
hauling twenty tons of beets from
each acre to the factory when his
neighbor can barely muster seven or
eight.
The Investigations into this problem,
which are published in Department
Bulletin No. o3S. were carried on in
Utah for a period of three years. The
investigators reached the conclusion
that the variations in yield were due
10 deficiencies OF stand. Previous in
vestigations had shown that the ideal
stand for sugar beets may be taken
as $4,000 plants per acre. the result
of leaving beets eight inches apart
in rows twenty inche apart. a larger
stand than this under ordinary con-
ditions causes overcrowding: a smaller
stand means waste of land. II was
found. however. that without actually
counting the plants IL was impossible
to distinguish between stands of "a.
80 or so per rent. of this standard.
J The loss occurred in the c~orminaticn
stand before thinning. during the
pr cess Of thinning and blocking and
, during the cultural operations between
thinning and harvesting. In the De-
partment's experiment il 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, i'm
perfect operation { seed drills. late
frosts, the damping off disease or the
of such pests as flea beetles
cut worms or wire worms.
The greatest Jingle source of loss in
the stands, however, was found to be
improper thinning. In this country
this work is usually done by a poor
class of hired labor or else by con
tract. II is seldom efficiently super
yised, and the laborers receive the
same pay whether IL is property or
improperly done. The investigators.
found that almost invariably the space
left between the plants was greater
than the farmer intended 1t to bc. al
though this fact was not apparent
after the plants attained IA moderate
growth. The average loss from this
source was estimated to he approx
mately 81 per cent.
After thinning there was further
loss in the field hefJre the harvest.
Some plants We're destroyed by the
hand hoe, some by the horses or by
carelessness with the cultivator. The
total loss from these sources was esti-
mated at an average ~ approximately
per cent, Thus in the experimental
plots. which furnished the data for tn.
investigations, there was n total de-
ticiency of over 80 per cent. in tn,
stand. with a corresponding decrease
in the yield.
The remedy for this loss appears t.
be greater care. In particular Tho
elimination of contract work is recon
monIcd, since it is hardly possible T.
expect contract laborers To exercise
the proper Of care and dis
~cretion. ON one European farm, which
is worked on scientific principles, I"
cents additional per acre is paid the
men If $4,000 beet plants remain in
the field after the second cultivation.
The bets must be II inches apart in
the row.
The significance Ut this investiga-
ton in the United States is increased
by the fact that it was carried on H.
a district where the average yield per
acre is II tons, as compared with an
average of the entire country OF only
1917. If losses of such size can be
found il n region where beet culture is
obviously more advanced han in most
/ ether regious the total loss through
out the entire United States must he
enormous. This total is to a great
extent ~preventable, for. as has been
shown, II is due less to natural con-
ditions thai to defects in cultural
methods.