soon as the young plants are well up or show four leaves thinning is begun. This consists of first bunching and then thinning to the proper number of plants to be cultivated for the crop. The thinning is per formed by hand. The first part of the work is done with a hoe which leaves a clump of beet plants about eight or nine inches apart. The thinning to a stand is then completed by select ing the best looking plant from the bunch left by the hoe and this plant is protected by placing it between the fingers with the back of the hand down, and the remainder of the small beets are removed with a sudden pull. The thinning should be done before the beets grow tall enough to become entangled with each other.
The cultivation of the beet is very expensive, inasmuch as a large portion of the work must be done by hand, though of late, improved agricultural implements have reduced the expenses. The beet should be worked in some way or other, if possible, every week, with a view of preserving good filth, the chief object being to destroy weeds and grass and conserve the moisture by forming a loose layer of soil on the surface which closes the capil lary tubes in the soil through which the water evaporates. Beets should be hoed two or three times, depending upon the weeds and grass. This hoeing is partly done by a plow, but the chief part of it must be done by hand. The cultivation period usually extends over six or seven months.
The harvesting is begun in different sections of the country at different periods, depending upon the climatic conditions. In some portions of California harvesting may begin in August while in sections where the temperature is not so favorable it is begun in September and October. The harvesting extends from two to four months. The beets usually indicate when they are ripe by the leaves turn ing yellow and drooping to the ground. The first step taken in harvesting consists in run ning an implement down underneath the beets so as to cut the tap-root where it is small, and, at the same time, loosen the earth around the beet so it may be readily pulled up by hand. The beet is then taken up, by hand, and with a special knife the top or as it is termed, is removed by one stroke. The top is cut off where the leaves begin to grow on the beet or just below this point. It has been found by experience that the top of the beet is very rich in non-sugars and that it is better to remove these to prevent their contamination in the process of manufacture. The beets are thrown
in piles and, if they are to be sent to the factory immediately, they are not covered up, but where the beets are to be preserved some time they are put into piles of three to four feet in diameter and covered with a layer of earth varying in thickness from six to 24 inches. This latter process is termed siloing and the beets thus preserved remain in a silo until the factory is ready for them. The beets are taken to the factory in carts in which are placed nets, so arranged that they may be removed by ma chinery, carrying with them the entire load of beets, or the beets may be thrown directly into the cart and at the factory the cart is driven upon an elevated platform and the beets dumped out. The beets are next thrown into a large tank filled with water having a shaft, pro vided with fingers, so that during the process of washing the beets are kept continually agi tated and brought near where fresh water is flowing into the tank. In this way all of the adhering soil is removed.
From the washing tanks the beets are taken by an elevator and carried above the diffusion battery and dropped into a slicing machine, where they are cut into very thin, narrow pieces so that when the chips fall they will not lie too compactly one upon the other. The chips are conveyed from the slicing machine to a hop per with a funnel-shaped tube and so arranged that it may be rotated or moved otherwise to fill the cells of a battery arranged in a circle or in The battery consists usually of from 12 to 14 cast-iron cylindrical cells connected with each other by a system of pipes with cocks between, so that one may empty and fill without interfering with the operation of the rest. The i extraction of the sugar consists in washing the chipped beets with hot water so as to remove the sugar. The battery is so operated that the water is admitted into the cell, the chips of which have been most nearly exhausted and passes out at the cell last filled. In this way the water is made to do its maximum work. When the beets have been exhausted of the sugar the bottom of the cell is opened and the beets discharged and led to a press where most of the remaining water and sugar are pressed out. The pulp cake is used in the wet condition for cattle food or it may be dried with the ex haust steam so it can be preserved for the same purpose. It may also be used to spread over the land and serve as a fertilizer.