The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-07-22
U. S. Agricultural Dept. In
Experiments in the Rails
ing of Sugar Beets.
OF INTEREST IN THIS COUNTY

! Variations in the yield of sugar
! beets under apparently similar condi-
tions 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 14.84
tons; in Russia, 1885, and in the
United States, 1917. Climatic condi-
tions, the character of the soil, and the
| prevents as much work being spent on
each acre as is done in Europe, &C
count, of course, for much OF the diff
! ferences in yield. But even when no
such factors have to be taken into
| consideration, in the localities on soil
Of the same character, under cultural
methods that appear identical, there
| is the widest range in the yield. 1t
is no uncommon 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 department Of agriculture S in
vestigations into this problem, which
are published in Department Bulletin
No. 238, were carried on in Utah for
period Of three years. The investi-
gators reached the conclusion that the
variations in yield were due to defc-
! iencies of stand. Previous investiga-
tions Rad 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
inches apart. A larger stand than this
under ordinary conditions causes over
| crowding, small stand means waste
/ of land. 1t was found, however, that
without actually counting the plants,
it was impossible to distinguish be
tween stands fifty sixty or eighty 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-
| partnlent's experiment, it was found
that the termination stand sustained
an average loss of close to twenty 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 raNages of such pests as flea bee
ties, cut worms, or wire-worms
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 a poor
class Of hired 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 Invariably the space left be
tween the plants was greater than the
farmer intended it to be, although this
fact was not apparent after the plants
attained a moderate growth. The aver
age loss from this source was estimated
to be approximately twenty-five 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
90 4bo IL
total loss from these sources. was esti-
mated at an average of Approximately
seven per cent. Thus, in the expert
mental plots, which furnished the data
for the Investigations, there was a
total deficiency of over fifty per cent
in the stand, with corresponding
decrease in the yield.
The remedy for this loss appears to
be greater care. In particular, the
elimination of contract work is recon-
mended, since it is hardly possible to
expect contract laborers to exercise
the proper amount of care and discre-
ton. On one European farm which is
worked on scientific principles, forty
cents additional per acre is paid the
men if twentyeight thousand beet
plants remain in the field after the
second cultivation The beets must be
eleven inches apart in the row.
The significance of this investigation
in the United States is increased by
the fact that it was carried on in a
district where the average yield per
acre is seventeen tons as compared
with an average of the entire country
of only 1o.17. IF losses of such size
can be found in region where beet
culture is obviously more advanced
than in most other regions, the total
loss throughout the entire United
States must be enormous. This total
| IS to great extent preventable, for.