Muck soils are usually unsatisfactory. They fre quently produce a large tonnage but the quality of the beets is usually poor, although some exceptions to this statement have been recorded.
One of the least satisfactory soils is the gravelly type, probably because of its inability to retain moisture. A soil that is of considerable importance in some of the sugar-beet areas of the West is the alkali land. While this crop is capable of making satisfactory growth in soils too strongly alkaline for many other farm products, there are thousands of acres of otherwise good soil where the percent age of alkali is too strong even for existing strains of beets. Much has been done toward reclaiming this land by washing out large quantities of the alkali. Efforts are also being made to develop a strain of sugar-beets that shall be so resistant to excessive quantities of alkali that they will thrive in many areas that are now useless for agricultural purposes.
T regard to climate, two points have been found to be of vital importance to the growth and quality of sugar-beets,—temperature and moist ire. In general, high temperatures are detrimental to the best development of the sugar c intent of the beet. It has been observed that an average temperature of about Fahr. during the growing months has a marked influence in produc ing, satisfactory sugar content of the beet. Abnor mally cold weather at any time during the growing season has a tendency to retard the development of the beets. The danger from this source de creases as beets develop, since they become more resistant to cold as the season advances. While a certain amount of moisture is necessary to enable the seeds to germinate, an excess of moisture will often cause the seeds to rot or will aid in bringing about a damping-off of the seedlings. When sugar beets become well established, they will stand more moisture than most other farm vegetation crops, but, like other crops, they do best in well-drained soil.
Excessive moisture accompanied by growing temperature at or near the close of the growing season when the beets are ripe, or nearly ripe, will often cause a renewed growth of foliage which has a tendency to reduce the sugar content of the beets. This reduction varies from a fraction of
one per cent up to two per cent or more. If circum stances are such that the beets can be left undis turbed after normal conditions are restored, the sugar content will be gradually increased again.
The — The seed-bed for sugar-beets, when properly prepared, consists of a deep, well drained but moist, firmly-packed surface soil cov ered with a layer of well-pulverized but looser soil, which will admit the air freely around the roots of the plants and which at the same time acts as a blanket to prevent too rapid evaporation of moisture from the lower part of the seed-bed. In order to produce a seed-bed that will fulfil the required conditions, drainage should receive first attention. The ground should therefore be broken to a good depth, eight to eighteen inches, depend ing on the nature of the soil. As with other crops, not much raw soil should be turned up at one time, but the seed-bed should be brought gradually to the proper depth in order to get the best results. The subsoil plow, though not so commonly used as formerly in preparing ground for sugar-beet seed, would be advantageous in many instances where greater depth is desired. Fall-plowing is generally recommended and frequently practiced by sugar beet-growers, but the time of plowing must be governed largely by soil and climatic conditions. In many sugar-beet sections the ground is too dry in the fall to be plowed to advantage. Having broken the ground under the best possible condi tions, the most important point is to conserve the moisture; to this end the ground should be rolled or harrowed immediately after plowing and no crust allowed to form on the surface. Previous to planting, the ground should he worked thoroughly with such implements as will pack the seed-bed below and leave a loose layer of soil on the surface.
In inset instances, a float and a harrow properly adjusted as to depth will produce the desired result. A thorough preparation of the seed-bed has the secondary advantage of materially lessen ing the labor in the subsequent care of the beets, by destroying many weeds that must otherwise be removed by hand.