The Delta independent., 1925-02-06
j. H. S. Girl Is
Given Honor Mark

Miss Ina Woodard, l3 years old,
was given the highest honor mark in
essay whiting on the Sugar Beet In
dustry,' iu he Junior high school last
week. 'i..s Woodard's essay follows
in full:
The sugar beet seed is the most i'm
portant thing about sugar beets. I'm
til the last four years practically all
Of the seed planted in the United
States was imported from Europe
The last four years efforts have been
made TO grow seed here, and it is
thought that they will some day sue
ceed.
Almost any fertile soil capable of
growing any kind of crops will grow
sugar heets But it depends greatly
upon the way the soil is handled. Ex-
tremely sandy or soil of gravelly type
is not usually satisfactory for sugar
beets. 1t is not satisfactory to grow
beets on a piece of land year after
year because the soil becomes worn
out and needs a change. People gen.
orally use the rotation method. This
is to plant sugar beets one year
and another crop that rotates well
the next year. Thus the soil is kept
up instead Of torn down.
Before the seeds can be planted
the ground must be well plowed.
narrowed and worked with until it
is soft fine soil. Then the beets are
planted in rows so that when the
water .s run it can go in little ditch
es (d-E with a ditcher) between the
rows.
In some places beet growers de
pend entirely upon the rainfall and
snow for the moisture Of the soil.
The use Of irrigation water is simple
Good crops are sometimes ruined be-
cause of the want of experience in
applyir- the water. There are two
general methods Of irrigating beets.
The first a method Of flooding a
field. This is generally detrimental
TO the crop and wasteful OF water.
The second the furrowing method
which keeps the dirt up around the
beets The water sinks into the
roots just the same as If the fields
were flooded. This is urged. by au-
thorit-s and it is a much better
way Of irrigation.
Ths cultivation Of sugar beets is
simple and a great deal like any
other crop. It is necessary TO cult
vate saa heets many times to keep
the ground. from forming a crust
The purpose Of cultivation is two
fold r To hold the moisture in
the soil. l2l To destroy the weeds
and grass that in the early stages Of
beets might choke the plants out.
Wien the beets begin to show
three n- four leaves it is time for
bunct5rc and thinning. The bunch
/ ing IS best accomplished with a short
handed hoe One stroke Of this hoe
takes out all the beets in the row ey-
/ |cert small hunches about ten inches
.ana-t. From these punches all the
he..s but one should be removed by
hand. This is called thinning II the
thinning is put off too long the crop
viii suffer. While thinning it is
e1rl plan to give the crop a thorough
hand hoeinE. This viii not take
much more time and will pay for it,
self in the long run.
The harvesting Of the beets varies
from place to place The leaves of.
a nened beet turn to a yellowish
e-. q. lay close to- the ground. and
many OF them die. The harvesting
S. accomplished by first loosenfng
ur beets with a machine called
d.--er The dirt is knocked off from
Tire beets. They are put In piles
an. people with long knives come
through the field and cut the tops off
On. beets. This is called topping
hn.r they are topped they are put in
piles and men in wagons come and
rar them and haul them TO a dump
whore they are dumped into cars and
aaau to a factory.
Sugar Factory.
N'ter the beets are brought from
cars to the factory they are stored
tr long shaped sheds From here
they are taken into trays where they
are washed by sprays Of clear cold
watnr From this they are run into
q machine where they are floated. All
tho grit and stones are taken out
After the boets are pretty well
drained they reach the bins above
the automatic scales. The heets are
an weighed before they enter the
process in order to control all fig
Uraz on sugar yields. They fall from
hora into a collecting hin directly
oyr- tho slicinE bins. The next stage
rs where the boets are shredded and
prepared for extracting the sugar.