Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-04-12

sugar 6SetS.
and delivered to the sugar company
or protected from the cold before
freezing weather sets in. If the roots
themselves freeze after they are nar-
vested, no great damage will result,
provided they remain frozen until they
are worked through the mill, but If
| they alternately freeze and thaw, they
will soon blacken, decay and become
worthless for sugar-making purposes.
Frozen beets should not be put into
the factory sheds with the expectation
of leaving them for any length of time,
as they will certainly spoil. The only
safe way is to get the beets out Of the
ground before they freeze and put suf-
ficient covering over them so that they
will not be frosted.
Two important points In blowing for
sugar beets should be kept in mind,
namely, the time and depth Expert
ence has shown that the best results
are generally obtained by blowing for
beets in the fall. Taking advantage
Of this fact, the beet grower will try
to arrange his work and his crop ro-
tation so that he can pillow his beet
ground in the fall, provided the soil
and weather conditions will permit.
It has been demonstrated that deep
pIowing, especially of the heavier soils,
If done in the fall, will give the best
results for sugar beets. If the soil is
deep and well supplied with humus
and is plowed in the fall, it is hardly
possible to pillow too deep, provided the
ground Is in condition to be plowed at
all If the soil is shallow and under
lain with clay, 1t will be better to pillow
only one or two inches deeper than
usual, and then use the subsoil p1ow.
IF the blowing must be delayed until
spring it is not advisable to pillow more
than one or two inches deeper than
the ground was previously plowed.
object of Flowing.
The whole object Of blowing should
be to make deep, rich seed and root
bed which can be penetrated easily by
the beet roots and from which the
plants can draw an abundant supply
of food necessary for their constant
and rapid growth. The seed bed must
be firm enough to hold the plants Sc
curely in place and to retain good
supply of moisture, but not so compact
that the air cannot circulate freely
through 1t. If the seed bed is care
fully selected, properly supplied with
humus, and thoroughly prepared, the
success of the crop Is more than half
assured
Considering the yield and quality of
the beets as compared with the cost
of growing them with different widths
of rows, 20 inches is generally salts
factory, although this width Of row
requires a special cultivator. Good,
strong land that is capable of growing
a satisfactory row of beets every
twenty inches will soon pay for beet
cultivator in the extra yield when COM
pared with the wider row in which a
corn cultivator could be used. Shall
low planting, one-half to three-fourths
of an inch, is advisable provided there
is moisture enough in the soil to pro-
duce termination.
At present practically all sugar beet
seed is planted in solid rows. AS soon
as the plants have developed from four
to six leaves, they must be spaced and
thinned, since they must stand one in
a place at intervals of from eight to
twelve inches in the row in order to
produce beet roots satisfactory in
yield and quality.
The beets should receive good hoe
ing at the time they are thinned, the
earth loosened on all sides and weeds
carefully removed. The number of
subsequent hoeings will depend upon
local conditions. Cultivation should
begin Just as soon as the rows can be
followed. 1t is usually possible to cul-,
tivate once before the spacing and
thinning are done. A second should be
given as soon as they strafghten ND
after thinning. No fixed rule can be
laid down as to the number of cult
vatfons that a field should receive dur
ing the season. This must be gov.
erned by soil and weather conditions
and by the presence of weeds.
Operation Of Harvesting.
Harvesting sugar beets consists Of
three distinct operations-lifting, pull
ing and topping The lifting is usu-
ally done either with a double-pointed
implement somewhat resembling a
tWo-pointed pillow, or by means of a
side litter, which is a small shoe or
plow on the end of long shank. After
the beets are loosened they should be
thrown into piles. In knocking off the
earth from the beets care should be
taken not to bruise the roots unneces-
sarily. In topping, the beets should be
cut off squarely at the lowest leaf
scar This is usually done with one
stroke of heavy knife.
The beets should then be covered TO
prevent evaporation. The roots work
much better in the mill if they are
kept fresh and crisp, and they lose
considerable weight If exposed to the
4 Ind