Hoeing and cultivation.—Sugar-beets receive two to four hoeings in the season. The first hoeing is frequently given at the time of thinning ; but often the beets, more or less disturbed by the thinning, are allowed to reestablish themselves first. Hoeing serves the twofold purpose of destroying the weeds and of keeping the soil and the plants in condition to conserve mois ture, hence indi rectly inducing the plants to feed or grow. It is a common saying among the Ger man beet-grow ers that the sugar is hoed into the beet.
Cultivating is begun as soon as the beets are large enough so that the rows can be followed, and is repeated at longer or shorter intervals until the tops cover the ground. Owing to the narrow ness of the rows as compared with most field crops, specially constructed cultivators are required. Some are made so that they will cultivate a single row at a time, but those most commonly in use will work two rows at a time. They are usually provided with two sets of teeth, namely, "weeders" and "duck feet." The weeders are thin blades of metal so adjusted that they move along just below the surface of the ground and destroy the weeds over the entire space between the rows. The duck feet are more or less triangular in shape and can be set so that they will work to any desired depth. Some growers hold that deep cultivation is neces sary for the production of long, well-shaped beets, but shallow cultivation is generally practiced. The cultivation of beets, like hoeing, is twofold in its purpose—to accomplish the destruction of weeds and the conservation of moisture. When the tops become too large or for other reasons the hoeing and cultivating ceases, the crop is said to be "laid by.
few field crops are able to adjust themselves to the extremes of moisture supply in the soil more readily than sugar-beets after they have become well established. However, a certain amount of moisture is necessary, not only for the germination of the seed, but also for the subsequent development of the beets. There is, therefore, no question of greater importance to the beet-growers of the semi-arid sections than that of water rights and the proper use of irrigating waters. Irrigation by flooding, that is, allowing the water to flow over the entire surface of the field, is not usually practiced in sugar-beet-growing. The furrow method of irrigation is employed almost entirely. in which case small ditches or furrows are made between each two rows, or between alter nate rows, extending across the field from the higher to the lower side. The water is then turned on and allowed to flow until the ground around the beets is well supplied with moisture. In case only
alternate rows are furrowed at the first irrigation, furrows are made at the next irrigation between the rows not previously furrowed, so that the rows are watered first on one side and then on the other.
The number of irrigations necessary to bring a crop through successfully depends on soil and climatic conditions and on methods of cultivation. Usually, two to five irrigations are necessary, but some areas are so situated with respect to the surrounding country that the crops are watered naturally from below, and no water in any form need be applied to the surface. This may be called natural subirrigation. Such sections are very limited, however, as compared with the vast areas of land to the surface of which water must be applied, either in the form of rain or of surface irrigation, in order to produce satisfactory crops.
Harvesting (Fig. 821).— The harvesting of beets consists of four distinct operations,—lifting, pull ing, topping and hauling. In the first operation the beets are simply loosened in the ground. In per forming this work, two distinct types of implements are in common use. One of these is a side plow, which is usually operated with three horses, and is so held that it runs along one side of the row to be loosened and close enough to the roots so that each beet is disturbed as it progresses. The most serious objection to this lifter is that it frequently breaks the beets, which are very brittle at harvest time, and leaves the lower part in the ground, thus caus ing considerable loss in tonnage.
The other form of lifter is a double-pointed plow with the points so adjusted that one passes on either side of the row. Each point extends backward in the form of a shoe. These shoes approach each other by degrees without meeting, and are gradually elevated from the toe toward the heel. The con struction and arrangement of the parts of this implement are such that, as it progresses, each beet in turn is caug:lit between the shoes and lifted several inches from its original position. In either case the beets are loosened so that they are easily pulled. The pulling is usually done by hand, in which case the beets are picked up and thrown in piles, or in rows, depending on the method later to be employed in topping. The most common method is to throw the beets in piles at convenient inter vals. With some growers it is the practice to throw them so that all the tops lie in the same direction ; this practice takes no more time in pul ling and greatly facilitates the work of topping.