COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
DAVIS, CALIFORNIA
Ube IRural Science Series
EDITED BY L. H. BAILEY
THE SUGAR-BEET IN AMERICA
Eurai Science Series
EDITED BY L. H. BAILEY
THE SOIL. King.
THE SPRAYING OF PLANTS. Lodeman.
MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. Wing. Enlarged and Revised.
THE FERTILITY OF THE LAND. Roberts.
THE PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT-GROWING. Bailey. 80th
Edition, Revised.
BUSH-FRUITS. Card. Revised.
FERTILIZERS. Voorhees. Revised.
THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE. Bailey. Revised.
IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE. King.
THE FARMSTEAD. Roberts.
RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE. Fairchild.
THE PRINCIPLES OF VEGETABLE-GARDENING. Bailey.
FARM POULTRY. Watson. Enlarged and Revised.
THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS. Jordan. (Now Rural
Text-Book Series. Revised.)
THE FARMER'S BUSINESS HANDBOOK. Roberts.
THE DISEASES OF ANIMALS. Mayo.
THE HORSE. Roberts.
How TO CHOOSE A FARM. Hunt.
FORAGE CROPS. Voorhees.
BACTERIA IN RELATION TO COUNTRY LIFE. Lipman.
THE NURSERY-BOOK. Bailey.
PLANT-BREEDING. Bailey and Gilbert. Revised.
THE FORCING-BOOK. Bailey.
THE PRUNING-BOOK. Bailey. (Now Rural Manual Series.)
FRUIT-GROWING IN ARID REGIONS. Paddock and Whipple.
RURAL HYGIENE. Ogden.
DRY-FARMING. Widtsoe.
LAW FOR THE AMERICAN FARMER. Green.
FARM BOYS AND GIRLS. McKeever.
THE TRAINING AND BREAKING OF HORSES. Harper.
SHEEP-FARMING IN NORTH AMERICA. Craig.
COOPERATION IN AGRICULTURE. Powell.
THE FARM WOODLOT. Cheyney and Wentling.
HOUSEHOLD INSECTS. Herrick.
CITRUS FRUITS. Coit.
PRINCIPLES OF RURAL CREDITS. Morman.
BEEKEEPING. Phillips.
SUBTROPICAL VEGETABLE-GARDENING. Rolfs.
TURF FOR GOLF COURSES. Piper and Oakley.
THE POTATO. Gilbert.
STRAWBERRY-GROWING. Fletcher.
WESTERN LIVE-STOCK MANAGEMENT. Potter.
THE
SUGAR-BEET IN AMERICA
BY
F. S. HARRIS, PH.D.
DIRECTOR AND AGRONOMIST
UTAH AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
AND PROFESSOR OF AGRONOMY -'. '.
UTAH AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
gorfc
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1919
AU righto retervtd
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
LIBRARY
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
DAVIS
c.t* COPTWGHT, 1919,
^ tff,THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1919.
UNIVERSITY FAHM
Nottoooft
J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick A Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
PREFACE
SUGAR, which was once a luxury, has become a necessity
in modern dietaries. The civilized nations have become
so accustomed to its use as an important food that great
inconvenience is experienced if it cannot be had or if the
supply is reduced. This has made sugar-producing plants
almost as staple as those from which bread is derived. As a
result, sugar-beets, in the past century, have won an im-
portant place among the profitable crops of the temperate
zone. In most of the European countries they have been
raised extensively, whereas in America their growth has
been confined to a comparatively few localities. In re-
cent years, however, the area has been greatly extended,
and increased interest has been taken in establishing a
domestic beet-sugar industry.
Much has been written about sugar-beets in America
within the last thirty years, but most of this material is
scattered through numerous bulletins and reports of ex-
periment stations and the United States Department of
Agriculture, and is not easily available. For some time
a book containing the important facts regarding sugar-
beet production has been needed. This has become more
apparent since the beginning of the European war, which
caused a sugar shortage in western Europe and America.
In response to this need the present volume is prepared.
It is hoped that it may be useful to farmers who are rais-
3939?
vi Preface
ing sugar-beets, to agriculturists of the sugar companies,
and to students of sugar-beets in agricultural colleges as
a text. Those who do not find in the volume sufficient
information for their needs will find references to additional
material in Appendix A.
The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to
the many individuals who have been helpful in the work
of preparing the manuscript. He is under special obli-
gation to Prof. George Stewart, Dr. E. G. Titus, Mr. J. W.
Jones, Dr. G. R. Hill, Jr., Prof. G. B. Hendricks, Dr.
George Thomas, Dr. W. E. Carroll, Prof. O. W. Israelsen,
Mr. D. W. Pittman, Prof. H. R. Hagan, Prof. M. H.
Greene, Mr. L. A. Moorhouse, Dr. M. C. Merrill, Mr.
W. K. Winterhalter, Mr. H. Mendelson, Mr. A. M.
McOmie, Mr. J. A. Brock, Dr. N. Kopeloff, Dr. C. O.
Townsend, Mr. Truman G. Palmer, Dr. E. D. Ball, Dr.
O. E. Baker, and Mr. W. H. Wallace, who have read
chapters and offered valuable suggestions ; to Mrs. F. S.
Harris, Mr. K. B. Sauls, Miss O. Blanche Condit, and
Miss Carrie Thomas for assistance in preparing the ma-
terial for publication and in proof-reading; and to the
various sugar companies who have furnished photographs,
statistics, and other valuable material. He wishes to
make particular mention of the assistance rendered by
Mr. N. I. Butt, who did much laborious work on the
literature and helped in collecting statistics and preparing
diagrams.
F. S. HARRIS.
LOGAN, UTAH,
Oct. 1, 1918.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
GENERAL VIEW or THE INDUSTRY 1-5
CHAPTER II
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY . . 6-21
Early use of sugar 6
Early history of beets 8
Discovery of sugar in beets, 9
First commercial extraction of sugar, 10
Assistance from Napoleon, 11
Decline of the industry, 12
Revival of the industry, 12
The industry in the United States .... 16
Commercial success in the United States, 18
Later developments, 20
CHAPTER Hiy
THE SUGAR-BEET PLANT 22-35
Botanical group 22
Habit of growth 23
Parts of the plant 24
How the plant feeds and grows 26
The storage of sugar 29
Factors affecting percentage of sugar .... 31
vii
viii Contents
PAGES
Relation of size of beet to sugar-content ... 32
Flowers and seeds 34
CHAPTER IV
CONDITIONS FOR GROWING SUGAR-BEETS . . . 36-53
Climatic conditions 37
Temperature, 37
Sunlight, 40
Moisture, 40
Wind, 43
The soil 43
Economic conditions 44
Competition with other crops, 44
Labor,, 45
Capital, 48
Transportation, 49
Special troubles, 50
Kind of farmers, 50
The factory, 52
CHAPTER V
SOILS 54-72
Relation of soil to beet-culture 54
Origin of soils 56
Classification of soils 57
Soil and subsoil \ 58
Soil texture -..-.- 59
Soil structure *. 61
Improving soil tilth 61
Air in the soil 62
Soil heat 63
Contents ix
PAGES
Organic matter 63
Soil moisture 64
Soil alkali 66
Acid soils " 68
Plant-food in the soil 69
Soil bacteria 70
Selecting a sugar-beet soil 71
CHAPTER VI
MANURING AND ROTATIONS 73-91
Plant-food requirements of beets 74
Ways of maintaining soil fertility 75
How to determine fertilizer needs 76
Commercial fertilizers for beets 77
Nitrogen, 78
Phosphorus, 79
Potassium, 80
Indirect fertilizers 81
Home-mixing of fertilizers 82
Farm manure for sugar-beets 82
Handling farm manure, 84
Green-manures 85
Rotations 86
Reasons for crop rotations, 86
Principles of good rotations, 88
Rotations with sugar-beets, 88
CHAPTER VII
CONTRACTS FOR RAISING BEETS 92-102
Advantages of contracting 92
Items included in the contract .... 93
x Contents
PAGES
Types of contracts * 94
Sample contracts . 95
CHAPTER VIII
PREPARATION OF SEED-BED AND PLANTING . . . 103-116
Effect of previous crop 103
Reasons for plowing 104
Time of plowing 106
Depth of plowing 108
Final preparation 110
The seed . 112
Method of planting 114
The stand . 115
CHAPTER IX
CULTURAL METHODS 117-125
Thinning 117
Preparation for thinning, 117
Blocking and thinning, 118
Losses from poor thinning, 121
Hoeing 122
Cultivating 123
CHAPTER X
IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE 126-147
Irrigation 126
Beets adapted to irrigation farming, 126
Sources of irrigation water, 127
Measurement of water, 128
Preparing land for irrigation, 129
Methods of irrigating beets, 130
Contents xi
Water requirements of beets, 131
Time to apply water, 133
Size of irrigation, 136
Relation of irrigation to size, shape, and quality of beets, 137
Drainage 144
Reasons for drainage, 144
Effects of drainage, 145
Kinds of drains, 146
Installing the drainage system, 147
CHAPTER XI
HARVESTING 148-157
Time of harvest 148
Digging 151
Topping 152
Mechanical harvester 154
Hauling 155
Siloing 157
CHAPTER XII
BY-PRODUCTS 158-183
Sugar-beet tops 158
Composition of the tops, 159
Feeding and storing tops, 161
Soiling beet tops, 163
Use of beet silage, 166
Sugar-beet pulp . . * 168
Uses of beet pulp, 169
Waste sugar-beets and root-tips ..... 176
Sugar-beet molasses 177
Waste lime and minor by-products .... 181
xii Contents
CHAPTER XIII
PAGES
PESTS AND DISEASES 184-204
Insect pests 184
Extent of pest injury, 184
Preventive measures for controlling pests, 185
Blister-beetles, 187
Army worms, 187
The common army-worm, 188
The fall army-worm, 189
Sugar-beet webworm, 190
Cutworms, 190
White grubs, 191
Wireworms, 192
Flea-beetles and leaf-beetles, 193
Grasshoppers, 193
Beet-root aphis, 194
Sugar-beet nematode, 195
The beet leafhopper, 197
Disease injury 198
Leaf-spot, 199
Heart-rot, 200
Sca&, 201
Soft-rot, 202
Beet-rust, 202
Rhizoctonia, 203
Sugar-beet mosaic, 203
Damping-off, 204
CHAPTER XIV
FACTORS AFFECTING QUALITY OF BEETS .... 205-212
What are good beets 205
Conditions producing good beets 208
Contents xiii
CHAPTER XV
PAGES
PRODUCTION OF SUGAR-BEET SEED 213-230
Importance of good seed 213
High germination 214
Sources of seed 215
Disadvantages of importing seed 217
Types of beets 219
Single-germ seed 220
Breeding 221
Chemical test of mothers, 221
Steps in selection, 222
Commercial production of seed 223
Siloing, 223
Planting mother beets, 225
Care of seed crop during growth, 226
Harvesting and threshing, 227
By-products, 228
Yields and profits, 228
CHAPTER XVI
COST OF PRODUCING BEETS ...<... 231-249
Need for low cost 231
Difficulty of obtaining costs 233
Cost of growing in various sections .... 234
Relation of number of acres raised to cost and profit . 237
Cost based on time 240
Examples of acre-cost 247
CHAPTER XVII
BEET RAISING AND COMMUNITY WELFARE . . . 250-257
Stability to agriculture ...... 251
Promotes good farming 252
xiv Contents
PAGES
Increases crop yields 253
Educational value 254
Employment for children 255
Winter employment 255
Centralized population 256
Increases other business 256
National independence 257
CHAPTER XVIII
SUGAR-MAKING 258-267
Storing the beets . . . . . . . . 258
Washing and weighing 260
Slicing and extraction 261
Purification of the juice 262
Evaporation 263
Graining 264
The Steffen process 265
CHAPTER XIX
SUGAR-CANE 268-274
Adaptation 270
Soils and manuring 271
Cultural methods . . ... . . . 272
Harvesting . , . . , . . . . 273
Extraction of sugar 274
CHAPTER XX
WORLD'S USE AND SUPPLY OF SUGAR .... 275-293
Kinds of sugar and properties 275
Sugar in nature 277
Sugar as a food . 279
Contents xv
PAGES
Increase in use of sugar 283
Use in different countries 286
Source of supply 289
Future use and supply 291
APPENDIX A
BIBLIOGRAPHY 295-311
APPENDIX B
AMERICAN BEET-SUGAR COMPANIES AND FACTORIES,
JANUARY, 1918 312-319
APPENDIX C
SUGAR STATISTICS . . . 320-331
PLATES
FACING PAGE
I. A good field of sugar-beets . . . Frontispiece
II. John Taylor 16
III. E. H. Dyer 18
IV. Mature beet plant ; cross and longitudinal sections 24
V. Houses for labor ; pumping irrigation water . . 46
VI. Soils for beets 58
VII. Soils ; alfalfa plowed under ; plowing ... 66
VIII. Preparation and cultivation of land . . . 108
IX. Tillage; a good stand of beets . . . .110
X. Planting; cable machinery; cultivating and
hoeing 114
XI. Thinning beets ; cultivating . . • . . .118
XII. Hoeing beets ; irrigating 122
XIII. Experiment tanks; ditch machine; beets topped 142
XIV. Beet lifter; topping beets . ' . . . .150
XV. Topping ; silo in field ; rack for unloading . . 152
XVI. Beet dumps . 154
XVII. Bins in a beet factory 156
XVIII. Beet dump; sugar factory 158
XIX. Silo practice 172
XX. Feeding cows on by-products ; feed yards . .176
XXI. Sheep feeding; injury by army-worms; catching
grasshoppers ....... 180
XXII. Nematode injury ; beet spot 196
XXIII. Curly-leaf; rot in storage 200
XXIV. Well-shaped beets ; poorly shaped ; three types of
beets 206
xvii
XV111
Plates
FACING PAGE
XXV. Pedigreed beets; silos for mother beets; steck-
linge 220
XXVI. Good crop of seed 226
XXVII. Diffusion battery; carbonation and sulfur tanks 260
XXVIII. Filter presses; vacuum pans 262
XXIX. Centrifugal machines ; sugar warehouse . . 266
XXX. Planting sugar-cane ; unloading cane . . . 270
XXXI. Vigorous growth of cane ; sugar-cane in Louisiana 272
XXXII. Harvesting cane with hand cutters; cane wagons
in Cuba 274
THE SUGAR-BEET IN AMERICA
THE SUGAR-BEET IN AMERICA
CHAPTER I
GENERAL VIEW OF THE INDUSTRY
THE beet-sugar industry in America has but recently
passed out of the experimental stage. It was undertaken
nearly a century ago by men who had more enthusiasm
than knowledge concerning the raising of beets and the
methods of extracting sugar from them. Early attempts
to establish the industry on the Western Hemisphere were
not successful, partly because of the lack of scientific
methods and partly because beet-growing was first tried
in unfavorable localities. It also required tune to train
farmers to grow beets and experts to make beet-sugar.
Legislation, also, has been a factor. When regions well
adapted to beet-culture were chosen, when farmers became
familiar with methods of raising beets, when methods of
extracting sugar from the beets were improved, and when
legislation was favorable, then was the industry able to
establish itself and to pass beyond precarious infancy.
This stage being passed, the industry has now entered
the period of vigorous youth — the time of greatest virility
and growth. The beet-sugar industry is now firmly es-
tablished in America ; it is ready to take its place in the
sisterhood of great American industries.
B 1
2 The Sugar-Beet in America
The key to successful beet-sugar manufacturing is a
supply of good beets at a reasonable price. The actual
making of sugar can be conducted about as well in one
place as in another if the beets are available. The growth
of the industry, therefore, depends on an extension of the
beet-producing area and on perfecting the methods of
growing beets in sections where they are now produced.
Those persons familiar with the conditions necessary
to beet production, and those acquainted with American
geography, are convinced that only a small part of the
land well adapted to beets is at present planted to the
crop. Figure 1, which shows the relative number of
sugar factories in Europe and in the United States, in-
dicates that in America the area devoted to beets may
be increased many times before it will reach the limits
that have been found profitable in Europe. Reference to
Chapter IV, wherein the conditions for raising beets are
considered in detail, will show that many parts of the
United States are well adapted to the production of sugar-
beets. Now that the industry is well started, it seems
probable that it will grow rapidly in the next few years.
This growth will be fortunate for American agriculture,
which needs stimulation of more intensive methods. Ex-
perience has shown that wherever a beet-sugar factory
has been established in a community, the price of all
farming land has risen. This has resulted not alone
because beets themselves make a profitable crop, but
because raising them promotes better farming and con-
sequently a higher return to each acre of land. The deep
plowing and the thorough tillage, so indispensable to beet-
culture, increase the yield of subsequent crops on the same
General View of the Industry
Na of factories
Germany /9/2 tgr*JS4-2
Ruaia and BalXan 5tateiZ—!294
Austria Hungary 19/1 201
France 1911 Z24
Belgium 19/2
Netherlands /9/3
Denmark /9>
Sweden /9/3
Italy 19/1 _
5 pain 1912
.
Michigan-
Minnesota,
4 The Sugar-Beet in America
land. The cost of these tillage operations is met by the
beet crop, the increase in yield of the other crops usually
coming as a net profit.
Beets make an excellent crop to fit into the rotation.
On account of the tillage required, they permit the eradi-
cation of weeds that persist in other crops ; they furnish,
through their by-products, a large quantity of stock
feed ; they are deep-rooted, and consequently bring from
considerable depth plant-food that is later made available
to shallow-rooted crops; the period when work is re-
quired by beets fits well with the raising of grain and
alfalfa ; and, finally, they furnish a cash crop, which should
be found in every rotation. Because of these conditions,
beet-raising is a help to the individual farmer.
The community as a whole is also benefited by the
beet-sugar industry. Considerable ready money is thereby
brought into the region and the farmer is enabled to know
before the crop is planted that he has a sure market at a
definite price. This tends to stabilize all phases of business
in the community; it gives a standard market value to
all land capable of raising beets profitably. The factory
furnishes work to farm hands who would otherwise be
idle in winter; boys and girls find employment in the
beet fields when school is not in session. This employ-
ment of the people of the community makes the industry
valuable even when direct profits of beet production are
small.
Perhaps the greatest reason for encouraging the do-
mestic production of beet-sugar is the greater national
independence that results from having at home a supply
of such an important food. In times of peace the ad-
General View of the Industry 5
vantage of this condition is not strikingly apparent, but
war forces the situation home.
Within the last century the world's use of sugar has in-
creased from about one million tons in a year to twenty
million, an increase of two thousand per cent. There
are many reasons for expecting this increase to continue
until the world's requirement will be several times what it
now is. At present the United States uses about five
times as much sugar as it produces from beets. It is
evident, therefore, that beet-sugar is still only a minor
factor in supplying the home demand.
In view of the increasing importance of sugar as a food,
that great areas of land in the United States are well
adapted to beets, that only a small percentage of the
sugar consumed in the country is produced at home, and
in view of the many benefits of a domestic beet-sugar
industry, it seems imperative that greater attention be
given to the sugar-beet in America.
CHAPTER II
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEET-SUGAR
INDUSTRY
THE beet-sugar industry has grown in a century from
nothing to its present enormous proportions. It is a
significant example of the application of science to the
needs of mankind. With the demand for sugar exceed-
ing the supply and increasing faster than could be satis-
fied from known sources, new and better methods of
securing sugar were sought. By applying the principles
of plant-breeding to the sugar-beet — a plant formerly
having only a low percentage of sugar — the quantity of
sugar that can be extracted from a ton of beets was
increased several fold. The same incentive has also led
to the application of the principles of chemistry and
physics to the manufacturing of sugar. When the in-
dustry first began, beets low in sugar were the only kind
obtainable, and even this little sugar had to be extracted
by imperfect processes; but as time went on the beets
were improved and the processes perfected, until at pres-
ent sugar can be obtained from the beet at a fraction of
the cost of a hundred years ago.
EARLY USE OF SUGAR
The use of sugar as an important food is confined to
modern times ; formerly it was known only as a medicine
6
Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 7
sold by apothecaries. In ancient times, honey was the
chief source of sweet. This was supplemented by sweet
fruits and sirups, but no refined sugar was extracted
from any source to be used as ordinary food.
It is not certain whether the first sugar was obtained
from sugar-cane or from the bamboo, which belongs to
the same family. Early Greek and Roman writers men-
tion it as a rare product. Theophrastus, in the third
century B.C., refers to it as honey which comes from bam-
boos, and Pliny tells of sugar in Arabia and India. Very
little sugar-cane was found in Bengal before the fifth
century A.D., but about this time it was introduced into
the Tigris Valley and soon after into the Euphrates Val-
ley. In 627 A.D. it was found in Persia and carried west-
ward. About the middle of the eighth century the Moors
carried it to Spain, this being its first introduction into
Europe. It is known to have been raised in China at
an early date and has been grown there continuously ever
since.
By the tenth century, sufficient sugar was produced
in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates to attract
traders, and it was sometimes used as food in special feasts.
It was not until the middle of the seventeenth century,
however, when Queen Elizabeth of England introduced
it into her household^ that sugar could be considered as
part of the diet.
Sugar-cane went from Spain to Sicily and Cyprus in
the thirteenth century. The King of Portugal in the
fifteenth century sent cuttings from Sicily to Madeira
and the Canary Islands, from where it went to Brazil
during the early part of the next century. About the same
8 The Sugar-Beet in America
time it also became important in the Island of San Do-
mingo. By 1518 there were twenty-eight mills on this
island. It reached Mexico in 1520, Guadalupe in 1644,
and Martinique in 1650. The first sugar mill in Cuba was
built in 1547. Sugar-making was brought to Louisiana
in 1751 by the Jesuit fathers, but after about twenty-
five years' trial it was abandoned, not to be tried again
till 1791. Thus with the introduction of sugar into the
diet of the people of Europe, the colonies of the European
countries furnished an abundant supply. At that time
the consumption was very low compared with that of
the present.
When sugar first became an article of commerce, the
high price prohibited its general use. As late as 1482
it sold for as much as $275 a hundred pounds on the
London market, although it had been considerably cheaper
a century before. By the close of the fifteenth century
the price had fallen to $53 a hundred pounds in London.
Competition became very keen among the English,
Dutch, French, and Portuguese traders for the sugar trade
of Europe in the early part of the eighteenth century.
Each country was anxious to have its colonies furnish the
chief supply of sugar, most of which was at that time pro-
duced by slave labor.
*4P
EARLY HISTORY OF BEETS
The first use of beets as a cultivated crop is not known.
Theophrastus, «MP the third century B.C., describes two
varieties of beets grown in Greece — the deep red and the
white. The barbarians who conquered Rome carried
Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 9
beets back and planted them in Bohemia on their return.
Oliver de Serres, in 1590, seems to have been the first to
record the sweet properties of the beet. He said that " the
juice yielded on boiling is similar to sugar sirup." He be-
lieved that alcohol could be made by fermenting the beet.
The red beet was introduced into England in 1548, but the
white variety was unknown there until 1570. Four varie-
ties were known by 1782, the small and large red, the
yellow, and the white. In 1786 Abbe" Commerel
published a book on the value of beets as feed for
stock.
Discovery of sugar in beets.
Although De Serres had suggested the sweet properties
of beets, he did not obtain pur^taur from them. It was
left to the German chemist, AnolKr S. Marggraf, a mem-
ber of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, first to obtain
sugar from the beet. This he accomplished in 1747, but
it was a half century before this discovery was put to any
practical use. The methods used by Marggraf in extract-
ing sugar in the laboratory are described as follows : " After
having cut the beets into thin slices, he dried them care-
fully and reduced them to a powder. On eight ounces of
beet thus pulverized, he poured six ounces of alcohol recti-
fied as highly as he could obtain it, and placed the mixture
over a gentle fire in a sand bath. As soon as the liquid
came to a boiling point he withdrew it from the fire and
filtered it into a flagon, which he stoppered and left to it-
self. After some weeks he perceived that it had formed
crystals, which presented all the physical and chemical
characters of the crystals of sugar from cane. The alcohol
10 The Sugar-Beet in America
which remained contained sugar in solution and also a
resinous matter which he abstracted by evaporation."
First commercial extraction of beet-sugar.
Karl Franz Achard, son of a French refugee in Prussia,
was the first to extract sugar from beets on a commer-
cial scale. He had been a student of Marggraf, who had
turned his attention to the beet as a source of sugar.
After the death of his teacher in 1782, Achard devoted
himself faithfully to perfecting methods of extracting the
sugar. The laboratory methods were too expensive to
be used on a large scale. In 1797, after fifteen years of
work, he announced his methods, and two years later
presented them and samples of sugar to the Institute of
France. His statenxeate brought forth considerable
ridicule, but the Instiftrfe was sufficiently aroused to ap-
point a commission of nine leading scientists of France to
investigate the whole problem of extracting sugar from
beets. On January 25, 1800, the commission made its
report, which, on the whole, was favorable to Achard,
although it doubted some of his claims.
In the meantime, the producers of cane-sugar had be-
come alarmed and feared that some of their profits might
be lost. It is reported that in 1796 a society in England
offered Achard $30,000 if he would abandon his work
and make the world believe his attempts had not been a
success. Two years later a new offer of $120,000 was
made and refused. An attempt was then made to destroy
interest in beet-sugar through Sir Humphry Davy, the
celebrated English chemist. He said that while sugar
could be obtained from beets, it was too sour for food.
Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 11.
The early work of Achard was encouraged by financial
assistance from Frederick the Great, but after his death
in 1786 the work was somewhat interrupted until his
successor, Frederick William III, came to the rescue.
Through the aid of the latter, the first beet-sugar factory
in the world was built on Cunern Estate, near Steinau
in Silesia, in 1799-1801. In 1802 a factory was built
near Paris for experimental purposes. These first fac-
tories experienced many difficulties in purifying the
sugar. This, together with the low sugar-content of the
beets, discouraged all but the most enthusiastic.
Assistance from Napoleon.
The establishing of the beet-sugar industry on a pay-
ing basis really came as an incident in the wars of Napo-
leon. As a measure against England he established in
1806 a blockade in which any merchandise from England
and her colonies was not allowed on the continent. This
cut off the chief source of sugar ; as a result the average
price from 1807 to 1815 was thirty cents a pound. At
times it went much higher than this. In 1806 the French
Government offered a bounty on beet-sugar, but it was
not until 1811, near Lille, that the first commercial fac-
tory in France was established.
On January 12, 1812, Napoleon issued a decree pro-
viding that one hundred select students should be sent
from schools of medicine, pharmacy, and chemistry to
the six special beet-sugar schools that he had established
the year before. He also set aside large tracts of land to
be devoted to beet-raising and compelled the peasant
farmers to plant sugar-beets. The decrees of Napoleon
12 The Sugar-Beet in America
to encourage the beet-sugar industry were so liberal and
the price of sugar was so high that by 1812 forty factories
were in operation. These factories handled 98,813 tons
of beets produced on 16,758 acres and manufactured them
into 3,300,000 pounds of sugar. This may be called the
real beginning of the beet-sugar industry.
From France the industry spread rapidly to the other
countries of Europe, especially to Germany and Russia.
In Germany, Achard established a school which was
attended by students from all parts of Europe. These
students carried back to their respective countries technical
information which, encouraged by the success of the French
manufacturers, led to the establishment of many factories.
Decline of the industry.
With the downfall of Napoleon in 1815 and the return
of peace, the ports of Europe were thrown open to the
cheap sugar from the colonies. As a result, the newly
established industry was not able to hold its own. The
quality of beets was still poor and the processes used in
the manufacture of sugar were so imperfect that it was
impossible to compete with cane-sugar produced by
slave labor. Only one factory in Europe survived the
reconstruction that followed the overthrow of Napoleon.
This was the factory of M. Crespel at Arras, France.
Revival of the industry.
For some time in France the beet-sugar industry
fluctuated according to the laws that were passed. In an
effort to revive beet-sugar production during the period
from 1822 to 1825, over one hundred new factories were
Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 13
built. The processes of manufacturing were improved
so greatly that 5 per cent of sugar could be extracted
instead of 2 per cent, as formerly.
Researches of Pelouze in 1821 led to better methods of ,
breeding, which made progress more rapid. By 1836'
there were 436 factories in operation. This alarmed the
importers of cane-sugar and led to legislation which was
unfavorable to beet-sugar producers. This legislation
caused the abandonment in 1837 and 1838 of 166 factories.
In 1840 and 1843 attempts were made by the cane-sugar
interests to have the government buy the beet-sugar fac-
tories and close them, but this failed. In 1847 colonial
cane-sugar and beet-sugar were taxed equally, which made
it difficult for the beet-sugar to compete, because the cane-
sugar was nearly all produced by cheap slave labor. The
abolition of slavery in 1848, however, helped the beet-
sugar industry. From 1851 to 1873 the making of beet-
sugar in France was very spasmodic, since it depended
almost entirely on the attitude of legislation.
In Germany, where legislation was more consistent,
the industry grew slowly but surely. Considerable atten-
tion was given by scientists to the improvement both of
the quality of beets and of the manufacturing processes.
In 1836 Germany had 122 factories which used 25,346
tons of beets and produced 1408 tons of sugar. The
average percentage of sugar extracted that year was 5.5,
while in 1886 it averaged 12.18 per cent. The per capita
consumption of sugar in Germany was 4.4 pounds in 1836,
but had risen to 7.14 pounds in 1856, and in 1906 it was
41.08 pounds. The factory price of sugar in Magdeburg
fell from 9.4 cents a pound in 1854 to 4.2 cents in 1886.
14
The Sugar-Beet in America
FIG. 2. — Comparison of the amount of beet-sugar produced in Ger-
many, Austria-Hungary, France, United States, Russia, and Belgium, in
different years.
Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 15
In 1877 Germany had 286,000 acres of beets, which
produced 378,000 tons of sugar, while in 1886 the out-
put of sugar was more than 1,000,000 tons. Germany
did not equal the sugar production of France until 1878,
but since that time she has led the world in beet-sugar.
She produced 2,223,521 tons of sugar in 1906. The aver-
age percentage extracted that year was 15.69.
In other countries of Europe the beet-sugar industry
followed rather closely the lead of France and Germany
(see Fig. 2). At present there are beet-sugar factories in
all the European countries except Norway.
Ware l shows in the following table the relative impor-
tance of the industry in 1877-78. By this time the
beet-sugar industry had become thoroughly established:
TABLE I. — NUMBER OF SUGAR FACTORIES IN EUROPE, IN
1877-78, WITH THE TOTAL PRODUCTION AND THE PER
CAPITA CONSUMPTION OP SUGAR IN EACH COUNTRY
COUNTRIES
KILOGRAMS PRO-
DUCED 1877-78
APPROXIMATE CON-
SUMPTION PER
CAPITA, KILOGRAMS
FACTORIES
EXISTING
Germany ....
375,000,000
6
330
France ....
325,000,000
9
513
Austria-Hungary .
245,000,000
2
248
Russia .... 1
Poland . . . /
250,000,000
2
288
Belgium ....
50,000,000
6
153
Holland ... 1
Sweden . . . >
25,000,000
8
42
Denmark . . . J
Ware, L. S., "The Sugar Beet," p. 40 (1880).
16 The Sugar-Beet in America
THE INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES
The first effort to grow sugar-beets in the United
States was made about 1830 at Ensfield near Philadelphia.
In 1836 a number of citizens of Philadelphia became in-
terested in sugar-beet culture and sent James Pedder to
France to study the business. A company known as
"The Beet Sugar Society of Philadelphia" was organized
with James Donaldson, the chief promoter, as president.
Pedder sent home about 600 pounds of seed to be dis-
tributed among the farmers for trial. No evidence is
available that a factory resulted from this effort.
The first factory was erected at Northampton, Massa-
chusetts, in 1838, by David Lee Child, assisted by Edward
Church and Maximin Isnard, who had played an impor-
tant part in establishing the industry in France and who
was at this time French vice-consul at Boston. The seed
was imported from France. It gave a satisfactory yield
— from thirteen to fifteen tons to the acre — but the
beets were low in sugar. In 1839, 1300 pounds of sugar
were produced and several prizes were taken. The in-
dustry could not be made to pay under the circumstances,
and the factory never ran after 1840.
Soon after the settlement of Utah, in 1847, the Mor-
mon pioneers began to establish different home indus-
tries in order to make themselves as industrially inde-
pendent as possible. Since at this time all manufactured
goods had to be hauled from the Missouri River to Salt
Lake City by team, sugar was worth from forty cents to
one dollar a pound. John Taylor (Plate II), who was
laboring as a missionary in France, studied the beet-sugar
PLATE II.
John Taylor, who introduced the beet-sugar industry into Utah in 1852.
(Courtesy of Frank Y. Taylor.)
Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 17
industry, and in 1852 purchased from Faucett, Preston,
and Company of Liverpool, for $12,500, a complete outfit
of machinery for making beet-sugar. This arrived at
New Orleans in April, 1852, from where it was taken on
another boat to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. It took
fifty-two ox teams four months to haul the machinery
from Fort Leavenworth to Provo, Utah, where it had
been decided to erect the factory. Five hundred bushels
of beet seed came with the machinery. The Deseret
Manufacturing Company, the corporation that was pro-
moting the industry, was unable to carry it on because
of the many unexpected expenses. The machinery was,
therefore, purchased by the Mormon Church and moved
to Salt Lake City, where it was installed in an adobe build-
ing at Sugar House Ward, where additional machinery was
received in 1853. On account of the difficulty that was
experienced in getting sugar to crystallize, sirup only
was made and the project was finally abandoned in 1855.
In 1864 the Gennett Brothers, Germans living in New
York, became interested in the beet-sugar industry. One
of them went to Europe to study the conditions on that
continent. On his return, 2300 acres of prairie land
were purchased at Chatsworth, Illinois, and the Germania
Beet Sugar Company was organized with a capital of
$200,000. The mill had a capacity of fifty tons a day,
but it was able to extract only a small part of the sugar
from the beets. In 1866, 4000 tons of beets were raised
on 400 acres. A series of unfavorable years induced the
company to move the plant, first to Freeport, Illinois,
and later to Black Hawk, Wisconsin, but it was never a
success. Some of the machinery was finally taken to
18 The Sugar-Beet in America
California. Failure was due in part at least to a lack of
interest on the part of farmers in raising beets.
Two Germans, by the name of Otto and Bonestell, erected
a plant of ten tons daily capacity at Fond du Lac, Wis-
consin, in 1868. After two years of partial success, the
enterprise was abandoned. Otto went to Alvarado,
California, in 1870 and associated himself with Klineau
and E. H. Dyer, who the year before had raised 150 acres
of beets as an experiment. The $125,000 factory which
they erected produced 250 tons of sugar in 1870, 400 tons
in 1871, 560 tons in 1872, and 750 tons in 1873. The
average cost of producing sugar was about ten cents a
pound. The plant did not pay and later was moved to
Santa Cruz County. In 1871 the Sacramento Beet
Sugar Company began the operation of a small plant. It
made sugar and molasses for several years and was finally
sold to E. H. Dyer. This was the first plant in the
country to use the diffusion battery system of extracting
the juice.
Other unsuccessful attempts to establish the industry
were made at Portland, Maine (1896), Edgemoor, Dela-
ware (1877), Franklin, Massachusetts (1879), and Rio
Grande, New Jersey (1879). These failures were due to
various causes: (1) lack of experienced beet-raisers, (2)
poor quality of beets, (3) imperfect machinery, (4) mis-
takes in locating factories, and (5) general lack of interest
in the industry.
Commercial success in the United States.
The successful commercial production of beet-sugar in
the United States may be said to date from about 1890.
PLATE III.
E. IT. Dyer, father of the American beet-sugar industry.
(Courtesy of E. F. Dyer.)
Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 19
Previous to this time, E. H. Dyer (Plate III), after years of
experimentation and after four complete financial failures
and reorganizations, succeeded at Alvarado, California, in
establishing a factory on a paying basis, in 1879. This
was the first beet-sugar factory that had been made to
pay in the United States. In 1888, Claus Spreckels built
at Watsonville, California, a factory which the first year
made 1000 tons of sugar. Thus, in 1889 there were but
two beet-sugar factories operating in the United States,
both in central California.
About this time the Oxnard Brothers interested them-
selves in the industry. They went to Europe and made
a careful study of it there. In 1890, they built a factory
at Grand Island, Nebraska, and in 1891 one each at
Norfolk, Nebraska, and at Chino, California. This
served to arouse interest in the industry over a wider
section of the country. In the intermountain region a
factory was established at Lehi, Utah,
From this time on, the growth of the industry has been
constant and at times rapid, stimulated largely by favor-
able legislation. The Sugar Bounty Act of 1890, on
which McKinley worked, gave two cents a pound bounty
on domestic beet-sugar. This was to run fifteen years
(1890-1905), but in 1894 it was repealed and the Wilson
Act, which was not so favorable to the industry, was
enacted. "Development was more rapid following the
passage of the Dingley Act of 1897, according to which
imported sugars were taxed as follows: refined sugar,
$1.95 per 100 pounds; 96° sugar, $1.68 per 100 pounds,
with a reduction of 3^ cents for each degree below 96
and an increase of 3| cents for each degree above 96.
20
The Sugar-Beet in America
During 1899 fourteen new factories were constructed."
In 1892 there were only a half dozen factories with an
18-
16-
t
14- | H
32-
'4-
| io-|
8-1
6-
4*£
1-
2-
0-
/
Acres beefs harvested-
Y/e/<ds /yer acre
1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 -1914 \1916
-11
-10
-9
-8
-7
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
1
FIG. 3. — Growth of the beet-sugar industry, with the yield and quality
of beets, in the United States since 1899.
output of 13,000 tons of sugar, but by 1902 there were
forty-one factories, yielding 2,118,406 tons.
Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 21
Later developments.
Since 1890, growth of the beet-sugar industry has in the
main been regular and constant (Fig. 3). During periods
when legislation has been favorable it has been more
rapid than at other times. This has been the history of
the beet-sugar industry the world over. In 1912, seventy-
seven factories operated in the United States, and by 1915
the number had increased only to seventy-nine. This
slowness in factory building was caused largely by the
uncertain effect on the industry of reducing the tariff
on imported cane-sugar. The passage of the Underwood-
Simmons Tariff Bill reduced the tariff on imported sugar
25 per cent after March 1, 1914, and provided that all
the duty should be removed after May 1, 1916. The
latter provision was, however, amended before it went
into effect.
The retention of the tariff, taken with the effect of the
European war, greatly stimulated the erection of sugar
factories in 1916 and 1917. In 1917, fourteen factories,
with a daily slicing capacity of 11,000 tons of beets, were
erected in the United States. The high price of sugar
resulting from the war also made it possible to pay farm-
ers more for beets. This in turn greatly stimulated the
raising of beets, — and the acreage of beets rather than
the number of factories is the real limiting factor deter-
mining the sugar production in America.
CHAPTER III
THE SUGAR-BEET PLANT
IT is through the remarkable organizing capacity of
the sugar-beet plant that nature is able to take unusable
substances and by combining them properly produce the
useful product, sugar. The whole beet-sugar industry
rests on giving to this plant the conditions necessary to
do its work most effectively; then after it has produced
and stored its precious nectar, to extract and prepare it
for the use of man. The important agent in the whole
process is the plant — the greatest of nature's laboratories.
BOTANICAL GROUP
The sugar-beet belongs to the goosefoot family, or
Chenopodiaceae. The chief cultivated members of this
family are beets and spinach. Many weeds belong to
the family, among which are goosefoot, pigweed, lamb's
quarter, Russian thistle.
The species Beta vulgaris includes sugar-beets, mangel
wurzels, common garden beets, and leaf-beets. There is
a wild form of the same genus (Beta maritima) which
grows as a perennial. along the coast of southern Europe.
The cultivated forms of Beta are thought by some to
have originated from "a variety growing wild on the
western coast of the Mediterranean and on the Canary
Islands, and known as Beta vulgaris L., var. maritima Koch.
22
The Sugar-Beet Plant 23
Whether this plant is really distinct, or is itself a variety
of Beta maritima, is not certain." l Those who hold
that the cultivated forms and the wild coast plant are the
same species, use the name Beta vulgaris (which is the
older) for the entire group. Those who prefer to keep
them botanically separate, use the names B. vulgaris for
the cultivated plant and B. maritima for the wild Beta.
HABIT OF GROWTH
The sugar-beet is ordinarily a biennial, storing food in
the root during the first year, and sending up seed stalks
the second. In some climates there is a tendency for
many plants to produce seed the first year, particularly
if there has been a period of drought or other conditions
causing a temporary rest in the growth of the plant. The
plant may also live and produce seed during a number of
successive years if it is kept alive during the winter.
Many beet plants do not produce seed even during the
second year but continue throughout the season to send
out an abundant growth of foliage without sending up
root-stalks. This condition is probably due, in part at
least, to environmental facts, since the percentage of
beets failing to produce seed varies greatly during differ-
ent seasons. Some years this lack of fruiting is rather
serious in fields producing beet seed.
The Beta maritima, in its native habitat along the
Mediterranean, completes its cycle of growth in one year.
The self-planted seed germinates in the fall and produces
considerable growth before its activity is reduced by the
1 Percival, " Agricultural Botany," p. 352.
24
The Sugar-Beet in America
mild winter. In the spring growth is resumed, and by
early autumn the seed is ripe and again ready for planting.
PARTS OF THE PLANT
The enlarged root is the predominating part of the beet
plant. The first year the stem consists of the crown on
B4DAY5
AFTERPIANTMG
FiQ. 4. — The sugar-beet has a very extensive root system.
top of the root from which the leaves spring. It is very
much shortened and scarcely distinguishable from the
fleshy root. The second year seed-stalks are sent up two
I 1 \1
\\\^ } V
PLATE TV. — Above a mature sugar-beet plant two years old, showing
the method of growth of seed stalks ; below, cross and longitudinal sections
of sugar-beets f the cells of the dark rings are richer in sugar than those
of the light ones.
The Sugar-Beet Plant 25
to four feet tall. They bear the flowers and seeds and
most of the leaves. The first year the leaves are large and
usually erect, although they sometimes form a sort of
rosette on the ground. This varies with the strain of
beet and also with the conditions of growth. The weight
of the leaves is about one-half that of the root. The pro-
portion of leaves is greater for small than for large beets.
The leaves on the seed-stalk the second year are much
smaller than those growing from the beet crown the first
year.
The fleshy root (Fig. 4) is an enlarged taproot, thickest
just below the crown and gradually tapering into a slender
root which may extend several feet into the soil. Branch-
ing from the taproot are numerous secondary roots, that
extend as feeders throughout the soil. These secondary
roots are clustered in two rows extending down the beet
usually in a spiral direction, although frequently straight.
The upper six or eight inches of the old beet are almost
free from the secondary roots. One examination showed
the greatest branching between eight and fourteen inches
in depth. Attached to the secondary roots are number-
less root-hairs which absorb water and plant-food from
the soil.
The beet is made up of a series of concentric rings of
alternating lighter and darker color shown in Plate IV.
These rings are composed of two kinds of parenchyma
cells, the ones with a denser finer structure being richer in
sugar and dry matter. The larger coarser cells are richer
in water. For this reason, beets with a larger number of
small compact cells are richer in sugar than those in which
the larger water-storage cells predominate. Although
26 The Sugar-Beet in America
small differences in sugar-content cannot be distinguished
by an anatomical examination, there is a rather definite
correlation between structure of the beet and sugar-con-
tent.
HOW THE PLANT FEEDS AND GROWS
The development of the plant from a tiny germ through
the various stages to maturity is an interesting and
complex process. When the seed is planted, it absorbs
moisture and swells. Part of the starch stored in the seed
is changed into sugar by the action of enzymes, and the
cells composing the germ enlarge and divide till the germ
becomes a seedling. At first the germ must depend en-
tirely on the food stored in the seed, but a few days after
germination the rootlets penetrate into the soil and leaves
appear above ground. The plant is now ready to begin
gathering and making its own food.
The feeding of the plant goes on in two distinct pro-
cesses : the gathering of solublf ' *j and water from the
soil and the taking of carbon ^e air through the
leaves. After these two kin or raw materials are
gathered, the plant in the wonderful laboratory of its
own cells produces all the compounds necessary to its
life and to the performance of its very complex functions.
From the soil the plant absorbs various materials that
are dissolved in the soil solution. V The materials like
nitrogen that are used extensively by the plant are ab-
sorbed in much larger quantities than such unnecessary
elements as sodium. These materials must be dissolved
before they can be taken up by the plant. The root-
hairs, which are minute, single-cell extensions of the root
The Sugar-Beet Plant
27
system, reach to all parts of the soil and come in close
contact with the individual soil particles. (Fig. 5.)
By a process known as osmosis, water passes from the
soil through the cell-wall of the root-hairs into the root,
and finally from cell to cell throughout the plant wherever
it is needed, or it may pass directly to the leaves where it
is lost by tran-
spiration. Each
day during
rapid growth,
the plant in
this way takes
up and loses
several times
as much water
as its weight.
Water is used
as a carrier of FIG. 5. — Root-hair extending through the soil in
all foods within contact with the soil particle8'
the plant. It also heBps in regulating the plant as
well as entering into miny of the compounds of which
it is made up. More than half of the weight of sugar
comes from water which is combined chemically with
carbon.
The mineral compounds which the plant obtains from
the soil are : the salts of calcium, magnesium, potassium,
iron, phosphorus, sulfur, and nitrogen. These, together
with hydrogen and oxygen from water and carbon from
the air, make up the ten elements essential to the life of
all ordinary plants. If any of these are entirely absent,
the plant cannot grow. Many other elements are also
28 The Sugar-Beet in America
taken up by plants, but while they may be used in various
plant processes, they are not essential to growth.
These various soil compounds are also taken up by
osmosis, each one independent of the other. If the plant-
cells are low in one of the required substances that are
present in the soil solution, it passes through the cell-
wall of the root-hairs and from cell to cell to the place
where needed. The movement continues as long as the
compound is used by the plant if the supply in the soil
is maintained. If this supply becomes depleted, the
growth of the entire plant is retarded by a shortage of
this one element. This explains the importance of keep-
ing the soil well supplied with all the necessary plant-
foods.
The processes taking place in the leaves are even more
interesting. The leaf is made up of layers of cells of
various kinds. On the surface of the leaf are tiny open-
ings called stomata through which air and other gases
pass freely. These stomata are much more numerous on
the under side of the leaf. The air, containing carbon-
dioxid gas, enters the leaf through the stomata and
circulates between the loose sponge cells, where a trans-
formation takes place. The cells of the leaf contain
chlorophyll, or leaf green, which, through the action of
sunlight, is able to cause a union of carbon dioxid and
water with the final formation of sugar. By this process
the greater part of the plant material is made. In this
laboratory the food of man and beast is prepared. If a
process similar to this did not take place in plants, it
would be only a short time till practically all animal and
plant life would disappear.
The Sugar-Beet Plant 29
After the sugar is made in the leaves, it is transferred
from cell to cell to all parts of the plant, where it is used
in the formation of starch, cellulose, and the other com-
pounds. Thus the greater part of all plants comes from
water and the air and only a comparatively small amount
from the soil. An especially large part of the sugar-beet
is made of air and water. As the leaves grow older, the
percentage of ash in them increases and the nitrogen de-
creases. The old practice of stripping part of the leaves
from the beets is harmful, since it reduces the formation
of sugar.
THE STORAGE OF SUGAR
Although the sugar-beet plant begins the manufacture
of sugar and other compounds almost as soon as the first
leaves are formed, very little material is stored at this
time, since all the food gathered is needed for growth.
The plant is- adding to itself rapidly and is sending out
new roots and leaves; hence none of the sugar manu-
factured in the leaves is available for storage. It goes
into the production of more leaves and roots and to the
general growth of the plant.
After the sugar-beet has produced most of its growth
and approaches maturity, it stores sugar very rapidly.
Practically all the sugar manufactured by the leaves dur-
ing the latter part of the season is stored in the root in
order that the plant may use it the next year in produc-
ing seed. The storage is not uniform in the various parts
of the root. This is shown in Fig. 6, which was taken from
analyses reported by Briem.1 This drawing shows that
1 '* American Sugar Beet Growers' Annual," 1908, p. 67.
30
The Sugar-Beet in America
the beet is richest in sugar slightly above the middle of
the beet and that the sugar decreases toward the two ends.
The tip of the root is lower in sugar than any other part
except the center of the crown.
The section of the beet down through
the center has appreciably less sugar
than the section directly opposite
toward the outside. The part of
the beet lowest in sugar has only
about two-thirds as much as the
highest.
The ideal condition would be to
leave all the beets in the ground
till completely ripe, which is the
time when the highest percentage
of sugar is stored. This is not
always practical, however, when a
large acreage must be harvested.
Some of the beets must be dug be-
fore they are entirely ready, and
the digging season must be ex-
tended bey°nd the best time in
order to harvest all the crop. After
sugar has been stored in the beets,
it may again be transferred to other parts and used. This
storage and later transfer of sugar are dependent largely on
soil and climatic conditions. The storage of a high per-
centage of sugar in the root while the leaves are com-
paratively low in sugar is made possible by the fact that
sucrose diffuses out of the cells with difficulty, whereas
the glucose and fructose of the leaves move rapidly from
sugar in different parts
The Sugar-Beet Plant 31
cell to cell and are distributed independent of the amount
of sucrose present.
FACTORS AFFECTING PERCENTAGE OF SUGAR
The amount of sugar contained in the beet is of the
highest importance to the manufacturer of beet-sugar.
The same expense is attached to handling the beets and
running them through the mill if they contain 10 per cent
sugar as if they contain 20 per cent. The expense of
refining and handling the larger quantity of sugar is only
slightly greater in the latter case, whereas the returns
would be almost double. Beets low in sugar cannot be
handled at a profit ; the life of the industry depends on
getting roots sufficiently rich in sugar to justify its ex-
traction.
A number of factors modify the amount of sugar pres-
ent. Probably the most important of these is the breed-
ing, or heredity, of the strain. When Marggraf first ex-
tracted sugar from beets in 1747 the amount of sugar
contained was low, but a hundred and fifty years of care-
ful breeding has increased the amount by several times.
One reason why the beet-sugar industry was not able to
continue after protection was removed following the
downfall of Napoleon was that strains of beets were not
available with a sufficiently high sugar-content. Only
after better varieties were developed in Germany was it
possible to extract sugar from the beet at a profit.
The commercial strains now on the market differ widely
in the amount of sugar they produce under the same
climatic and soil conditions. It is necessary to continue
32 The Sugar-Beet in America
a rigid selection in order to keep the beets up to as high
a production of sugar as possible. With no crop are the
requirements more exacting.
Climatic conditions affect very much the amount of
sugar stored in beets. Seed out of the same bag may one
year produce beets having but 14 per cent sugar, and
another year 18 per cent. Some of the factors entering
into seasonal effects may be controlled ; others cannot.
Moisture, which greatly affects not only the yield but also
the quality of the beets, may be controlled by irrigation.
This is discussed more fully in Chapter X.
Many attempts have been made to point out correla-
tions between the shape of beet and its sugar-content,
but these have not been very successful. If there were
correlations of this kind it would save a great deal of
chemical work in selecting beets with a high sugar-content.
RELATION OF SIZE OF BEET TO SUGAR-CONTENT
The relation between size and percentage of sugar has
long been a subject of study. Observations have shown
that often very large beets are low in sugar and the small
ones high. In order to determine the exact correlation
between these two factors the Utah Experiment Station 1
made tests extending over several years and including
nearly seven thousand individual beets. The results of
that test are summarized in Table II, which shows the
number of beets of each weight and sugar-content. A
definite negative correlation is shown, although it is not
1 Harris, F. S., and Hogenson, J. C., "Some Correlations in
Sugar-Beets," Genetics, Vol. I, July, 1916, pp. 334-347.
The Sugar-Beet Plant
33
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34 The Sugar-Beet in America
large. This means that, while there is a tendency of the
large beets to be low in sugar and the small ones to be
high, this relation does not always hold. In some dis-
tricts large beets may have a very satisfactory sugar-
content, whereas in others this may not be the case.
FLOWERS AND SEEDS
The sugar-beet produces perfect flowers. The arrange-
ment of parts is shown in Fig. 7. The stamens are partly
attached to the perianth- ring. Pollen is readily carried
Fio. 7. — Diagrams showing parts of the sugar-beet flower. Much
enlarged.
from flower to flower by insects, thrips playing an im-
portant part in cross fertilization. The ovary is par-
tially imbedded in the flesh of the receptacle and con-
tains from one to three seeds. The flowers are produced
in dense clusters along an axis, resulting in the forma-
tion of seed-balls containing a number of seeds or germs.
Much extra work is required by this arrangement, since
The Sugar-Beet Plant 35
hand thinning is made necessary. If but one germ were
contained in each seed-ball, the work of thinning would
be greatly reduced. Attempts have been made to pro-
duce strains of seed having a single germ, but these have
not proved to be successful. The seed-ball is hard, similar
to the shell of a nut, and completely covers the tiny seeds
it holds.
In germination the primary root first appears. Very
soon the cotyledons may be seen. The seedling consists
of a short hypocotyl, two fleshy cotyledons, and a primary
root from which a few fibrous laterals arise.
CHAPTER IV
CONDITIONS FOR GROWING SUGAR-BEETS
PROBABLY no other common ci;op should be more
closely confined to regions adapted to its growth than
should sugar-beets. This is due in part to the great
expense required to raise an acre of beets, and where
natural conditions are unfavorable, the returns for this
expense and labor are small. Another important item to
be considered is that sugar-beets are not raised by iso-
lated farmers; there must be a sufficient number of
beets in a region to justify the erection of a factory.
Thus, a large amount of capital is tied up in a manufac-
turing plant/ This will be wasted if beets cannot be
raised successfully.
In raising a crop like potatoes, adaptation is not so im-
portant. The individual farmer may raise a few potatoes
for his own use even though the country is not well adapted
to potato-growing. If at any time he wishes to raise some
other crop, he is perfectly free to change and no one is
injured. With sugar-beets, on the other hand, there
may be a great loss if the industry is established in a
region not adapted to it; hence the importance of know-
ing the conditions contributing to the success of sugar-
beet production. These conditions may be grouped as :
(1) climatic conditions, (2) nature of the soil, and (3)
economic conditions. Of the climatic factors, temper-
36
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets 37
ature, sunshine, moisture, and wind are of greatest con-
sequence.
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
Temperature. •
The sugar-beet will grow in most parts of the United
States and Canada where the ordinary crops of the
temperate climate thrive ; but the region maturing beets
of desirable sugar-content, purity, and yield is confined
to a rather narrow strip across the continent. It lies
largely in a wedge-shaped area including California,
Oregon, and Washington on the west, and tapering ir-
regularly to the east, with Michigan and the states to the
east as the sharp end of the wedge.
So far as sugar is concerned, the best sugar-beet regions
are those with an average temperature of about 70 ° F.
during the three summer months — June, July, and
August. The distribution of the heat over the summer
period as well as the daily variations in temperature
affects the average temperature required. Unlike corn,
beets a're not injured by cool nights during the warm part
of the growing season. A great amount of heat is not
required when the beets are young; neither will they
thrive if the weather is cold and damp just after planting.
This condition retards germination and causes part of
the seeds to decay in the soil. The young plants that
emerge are also likely to be attacked by disease, such as
that caused by the damping-off fungi. With a protracted
cold spring, the young beets sometimes receive a set-back
from which they never fully recover.
Beets should do well in most localities where the sum-
38
The Sugar-Beet in America
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets 39
mer temperature is suitable, provided planting is not
begun until the soil is warm enough to insure good ger-
mination and a rapid growth while the plants are young
and tender. Hot weather during this period is unde-
sirable, since this condition makes the young plants less
able to overcome the shock resulting from the disturb-
ance they receive at thinning time.
A severe frost just as the plants are coming up is al-
most fatal, and replanting is usually necessary. At this
time they are most sensitive to frost. Later, after a few
leaves have been developed and a number of healthy roots
sent into the soil, they become much more hardy. In
the fall of the year the beet can stand rather severe frost
without injury, very much more than can be endured by
corn.
Severe freezing in the fall is likely to cause trouble by
freezing the beets in the ground, in which case it is very
difficult and sometimes impossible to harvest them, and
almost complete loss results. In order to be entirely safe,
an area raising sugar-beets should have about five months
in which severe freezing does not occur. Slight frosts
during this time, particularly in the fall, may do no dam-
age. The short season in the cooler parts of America
prevents the proper ripening of the beets, resulting
in a low sugar-content and consequently poor milling
quality.
The high temperatures of the southern part of the
United States have a tendency to cause a vegetative
growth producing good yields, but the beets are poor in
quality. In some regions having a high temperature at
certain seasons, beets are planted at a time that will en-
40 The Sugar-Beet in America
able them to make the greater part of their growth during
the cooler part of the year.
Sunlight.
Sugar is made by the action of sunlight on the chloro-
phyll of the beet leaf ; hence the storage of a large amount
of sugar requires a great deal of light. In northern
latitudes where days are long, the beet is able to store
sugar faster than farther south where the summer days
are shorter. For this reason, the growing period of the
north does not need to be so long.
Workers in the United States Department of Agricul-
ture 1 as a result of experiments were led to the conclusion
that the sugar-content of the beet is not dependent on
direct sunshine. Diffused sunlight from a cloudy sky
seemed to be practically as good as direct sunshine. Sun-
shine probably has a sanitary effect, however, since at-
tacks of diseases are much greater during damp, cloudy
weather than during periods when the sun is shining
brightly. The effect of sunlight is so closely related to
temperature and moisture that it is rather difficult to
discover just what its effects are.
Moisture.
Favorable soil moisture conditions are essential to suc-
cess in beet-raising. A crop costing less to produce may
be raised where it is too wet or too dry for maximum
yields without the results being serious, since little is
involved. With sugar-beets it would not pay to go to
1 Wiley, H. W., U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bur. of Chem. Bui.
No. 96.
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets
41
§E
« < '•»
i I
42 The Sugar-Beet in America
all the trouble necessary to produce the crop if the yields
were greatly reduced by unfavorable conditions.
The use of irrigation water makes possible an easy con-
trol of soil moisture, and as a result the beet-sugar indus-
try of America is largely an industry of irrigated districts.
Michigan is the only important sugar-beet state where
irrigation is not practiced. The methods of maintaining
proper moisture relations by the aid of irrigation are
discussed in a later chapter.
In non-irrigated regions, the production of sugar-
beets follows the zone with a favorable distribution of
rainfall as closely as the zone of favorable temperature.
The time and manner in which the precipitation is re-
ceived, as well as the total amount, must be considered.
In a district having heavy soil that packs or crusts, a
heavy rain at the time the plants are sprouting may cause
trouble. A region having the greater part of its rain
during the period when the beet is growing most rapidly
and ceasing before harvest time is fortunate. Regions
having a continuously rainy and damp summer, however,
do not raise good beets.
Small showers at the right time may be beneficial, but
usually they do not wet down far enough to do any good.
If the precipitation comes in heavy rains, there may also
be considerable loss due to run-off from the surface of
the land. Such storms also have a tendency to pack the
soil and cause crusting. It is desirable, therefore, in con-
sidering a region for sugar-beet production, to study the
nature of the rainfall as well as the total amount. Hail-
storms are not so injurious to beets as to crops having the
marketable portion above ground.
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets 43
Wind.
In many beet-producing sections winds at certain sea-
sons are rather serious. This is particularly true with
spring winds that come about the time the seed is planted
or immediately before or after. Winds coming before the
seed is planted are likely to dry out the seed-bed so much
that it is necessary to plant the seed too deep in order to
find sufficient moisture. Winds about the time of plant-
ing may blow the seed out of the ground and make the
stand very irregular. When the young plants are coming
up, winds often cause injury to the seedling by the cut-
ting action of shifting sand. Hot winds may also com-
pletely dry up the young plants even when sufficient water
is present deeper in the soil.
The bad effects of winds may be overcome in part by
a number of methods. Windbreaks, an abundant supply
of humus, plowing, cultivating, keeping the rows at right
angles to the direction of the wind, and the formation of
a mulch of small clods at the surface of the land all help.
Sometimes it is necessary to shift the period of seeding
in order that the plant will not be in a critical stage at
the time of regular winds.
THE SOIL
For the production of good sugar-beets, the soil should
be fertile, deep, and of a texture that is easy to work.
No particular kind of soil is absolutely necessary. Any
good soil adapted to the raising of general crops such as
potatoes, corn, and the small grains will also produce
beets, which are raised on soils of every texture ranging
44 The Sugar-Beet in America
from a sand to a clay. A coarse sand is not good because
it does not hold sufficient water, and it is not usually strong
in available plant-food. A clay is not the best, since it
does not furnish the root a medium in which to expand
readily. It is, moreover, not adapted to the great amount
of working necessary in beet-raising. A medium loam
is, on the whole, most satisfactory. It should be deep
enough to allow an easy penetration of the feeding
roots.
A fuller discussion of the relation of beets to the soil
is given in Chapter V.
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Competition with other crops.
Many districts adapted to the culture of beets do not
produce them because beets cannot compete with other
crops in these sections. Some of these crops yield greater
returns to the acre and will, as a result, shut out beets in
districts where land is limited and the highest returns
must be secured. Other crops, because they use little
labor, prevent beets from getting a foothold where labor
is the limiting factor.
Beets would thrive in many of the districts that grow
truck crops near large cities, but greater returns are ob-
tained from the latter than could be had from beets.
Likewise, many orchard districts give a return to the
acre of land with which beets cannot compete. Attempts
have been made to introduce sugar-beets into the corn-
belt, but corn is so well adapted to these regions that no
competing crop has been able to displace it. Beets re-
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets 45
quire attention at the same time corn must be cared for,
and since corn in this section brings more money for the
labor, sugar-beets will probably not gain much of a foot-
hold unless economic conditions change. A decided ad-
vance in the price of sugar or a decline in the price of
corn might change this balance entirely.
Sugar-beets have not secured a strong foothold in the
great wheat sections of the country, partly because the
farmers can earn more money with less labor by han-
dling a large acreage of wheat than by handling a few
acres of beets. The farmer who has been used to raising
500 or 1000 acres of wheat and doing most of the work
by machinery is not likely to be satisfied to spend all of
his time over fifteen or twenty acres of beets, particu-
larly if he has to do most of the work by hand.
It takes time for sugar-beets to come into active com-
petition with long-established crops, even though condi-
tions are highly favorable to their growth. Farmers have
to learn how to raise the crop, and they are limited in
their markets to regions having a sugar factory. This
means that the industry is usually extended gradually
and not rapidly ; but where it is well established, sugar-
beets usually have little difficulty in competing with most
of the ordinary farm crops.
Labor.
More than ten times as much hand labor is required to
raise an acre of beets as to raise an acre of wheat, over
five times as much as to raise an acre of corn, and more
than twice as much as to raise an acre of potatoes. The
horse labor required for beets is over three times that
46 The Sugar- Beet in America
for wheat, oats, and barley, and about one and one-half
times as much as for potatoes. If only four to eight
acres of beets are raised, the amount hardly justifies
bringing in expert contract labor; but if the farmer at-
tempts to do all the work himself, other crops are greatly
interfered with. If he has children of his own or if he can
hire school children, he may be able to get along. From
fifteen to twenty-five acres are necessary in order to make
it pay to take advantage of contract labor for thinning
and harvesting.
New growers should not attempt to raise too many
acres of beets, since they are not familiar with the re-
quirements of the crop and great waste may result from
their inability to do work at the proper time. After a
few years of beet-raising, the farmer learns to adjust the
acreage to the labor he can command during the busy
season. On the small irrigated farms in the thickly
settled regions, the labor question is not so acute as in
the newer regions that have small population. A survey
in Utah showed that as the size of farm decreased, the
percentage of the land .^ising beets increased.
Where beets are raised on a large scale, the labor prob-
lem is solved by hiring foreigners to do the hand work.
Some of these are permanent farm hands; others may
have had experience working in beet fields in their native
land but are doing city work in this country. This class
of labor may be induced to go to the farms for a few
months during the busy part of the beet season. The
most satisfactory way when possible is to keep the hands
on the farm throughout the year, having other means of
employment when they are not needed in the beet fields.
•H
PLATE V. — Above, cheap houses of this kind are often constructed to
care for foreign labor ; center, houses of this kind attract labor which is
an important item for success in raising sugar-beets ; below, pumping
water for irrigation. (Courtesy Pacific Sugar Corporation.)
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets 47
To get this result, it is necessary, or at least desirable,
that small houses be built near the fields. Plate V
shows desirable houses for this purpose. Provision for
suitable living conditions for those who must do hard
manual labor is a greater factor in getting and keeping
hired labor than is realized by many farmers. Many
suitable workers could be induced to move to the farms
to meet the labor situation if more suitable living condi-
tions and better pay were provided.
Where gangs of foreign laborers are imported, they are
much more contented and do better work if they work
together in colonies rather than as individuals. To
satisfy this condition requires large acreages. In some
communities movable houses are used by the contracting
laborers, the houses being moved from field to field as
necessary. These houses are very desirable where the
individual fields in a district are too small to make it
worth while to build permanent houses.
The labor question is probably the most difficult gen-
eral problem with which the sugar-beet growers have to
contend. It is a problem that must be handled by com-
munity action or by the sugar companies who are gen-
erally well prepared to secure and distribute this labor,
since they can determine through their field men the
approximate labor situation throughout the territory
contributing beets to their factory. If the farmers can
be induced to report their probable labor needs to these
field men in advance, the proper amount of imported
labor usually can be secured.
The United States Government is attempting to keep
in touch with the labor situation in all parts of the country
48 The Sugar-Beet in America
in order that the best possible distribution of the laborers
may be made. In some communities where there is in-
sufficient labor, farmers bid against one another for the
labor that is available, resulting in prices out of all pro-
portion to the service obtained. Such action does not
improve the labor situation ; it merely raises wages with-
out increasing the efficiency of the labor. An appeal to
the sugar companies or the government for additional
workers might bring the required labor at prices satis-
factory to both the growers and the workers.
When labor must be hired, it is much more satisfactory
to have the work done by contracts based on tonnage
than merely to contract by the piece or by the acre.
Time labor, though usually slower than piece contracting,
results in better work if properly supervised. Since man
labor constitutes nearly half the total cost of growing
beets, and since more than two-thirds of this labor comes
at the time of thinning and harvesting, it is imperative
that as many labor-saving devices as possible be used.
Relief at the harvest season seems to be in sight, for a
number of mechanical toppers are proving successful.
No practical method has as yet been devised for lessening
materially the labor of blocking and thinning. Up to
the present time machines designed to do this work have
failed to give satisfaction.
Capital.
The raising of sugar-beets requires much more capital
than do most other crops. In the first place, good sugar-
beet land is usually high-priced. Special planters, culti-
vators, harvesters, and racks are required in handling the
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Eeets 49
crop. The chief item to consider is the expense of raising
the crop. It costs more to produce an acre of beets than
is required to purchase outright several acres of the
cheaper wheat lands. This money must all be spent be-
fore any returns are obtained.
In the older districts where beets are known to do well,
this item is not so serious, since the banks are willing to
advance money on the prospect of the crop ; but in dis-
tricts where the success of beets is uncertain, the amount
of money required to produce a crop may be a serious
matter. Under conditions of this kind, it is often neces-
sary for the sugar company to furnish implements on
" time " and to render other financial aid during the grow-
ing season.
Transportation.
The transporting of beets is one of the deciding factors
in determining whether or not the crop can be raised in
a given district. Because the crop is bulky, there is a
decided limit to the distance it can be hauled profitably.
There are many small areas that can produce excellent
beets, but are not of sufficient size to support a factory
and are too far from any factory to justify hauling the
beets. There are also good beet districts that are large
enough to support a factory, but the whole district is so
far from a railroad that it would not be practical to
attempt establishing a factory. It costs about thirty
cents a ton to haul beets a mile by team; hence it is
not practical to have beet fields at great distances from
dumps. Ordinarily, beets cannot be hauled more than
three or four miles by team. This depends somewhat
50 The Sugar-Beet in America
on the kind of roads and on how busy the farmer is with
other work at the time beets are to be hauled.
The whole beet-sugar industry is closely tied up with
the question of transportation. Each prospective sugar-
beet area must be considered from this viewpoint as well
as from its adaptability to the raising of beets.
Special troubles.
A number of special troubles must be kept in mind in
considering conditions for beet-raising. Among these are
diseases and insect pests. A number of factories have
failed because beets in the district have been so greatly
infested by curly-leaf and other serious troubles. For
this reason it would not be advisable to invest hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars in a mill where external con-
ditions only seemed to be favorable to the industry. It
is much safer to raise beets for a number of years first
in order to see whether any of these serious troubles de-
velop. Hot winds, severe drought at a critical period,
and many other unfavorable conditions may completely
outweigh other favorable ones.
Kind of farmers.
Successful sugar-beet growing requires good farmers.
Every operation from the plowing of the land to the de-
livery of the beets is particular and calls for skill and
painstaking care. There is no operation that can be
slighted without reflecting itself in the returns. Many
farmers fail because they are not willing to look after
details. They want to apply wheat-growing methods,
and these methods simply will not succeed with sugar-
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets 51
beets. The farmer who does not want to bother with the
crop from the time it is planted until it is ready to har-
vest had better devote himself to extensive crops; he
certainly cannot make a success in raising beets, — at
least not until he changes his methods.
The sugar-beet is sensitive to the attention it receives.
It does not thrive under "horse-back" methods of farm-
ing. The farmer who would succeed with it must get
down on his knees and use his fingers, almost fondling each
plant. If he is not willing to do this, he will not be a
good beet farmer.
The people of some communities are not adapted to the
raising of beets. They are not willing to give the personal
attention and the work that is required. If their chief
thought is to do as little work as possible and to make
their profit by selling the farm instead of tilling it, they
are not good beet farmers. In order for a community
to be successful at beet-raising, it must have the attitude
that a farm is a place on which to raise crops and not a
place that is just held to be sold at the first opportunity.
For this reason new communities rarely succeed with
beets. Usually it is necessary to wait until those on the
land feel that they are established in a permanent home.
The period of good beet-farming does not come until
the days of boom and land speculation have passed.
The high sugar-content and purity of sugar-beets are
artificial characters produced by years of special culti-
vation, selection, and breeding. The quality of the crop
is, therefore, subject to modification by cultural methods.
It responds readily to good treatment, and as quickly
deteriorates under bad. A good farmer will succeed with
52 The Sugar-Beet in America
beets, whereas his neighbor who is a poor farmer will
fail miserably.
In considering the advisability of establishing a factory
in a region, considerable attention should be given to the
kind of farmers who will raise the beets.
The factory.
The first consideration in attempting to introduce the
sugar-beet industry in a district is, of course, a guarantee
from the farmers that they will grow a sufficient acreage
of beets to assure a reasonably long run for a factory.
Many of the factories that have failed would have con-
tinued had the supply of good beets been large enough.
Quality of beets is perhaps more important than quantity,
because if the proper quality can be secured, the prices
can usually be regulated so as to make it profitable for
the farmers to produce the necessary quantity. If beets
testing 12 per cent or more of sugar and with a purity
coefficient of at least 70 per cent cannot be obtained, the
success of a factory is doubtful. The price paid by the
manufacturers for beets constitutes over two-thirds of
the total cost of manufacturing beet-sugar ; and the cost
is relatively much less for good beets than for poor ones.
Factories that must work beets from which only 220
pounds of sugar can be extracted from each ton are
distinctly at a disadvantage when compared with those
that can extract 300 pounds with practically the same
expenditure for manufacturing, even if the better beets
cost considerably more.
With a given quality of beets, it is very desirable that
the quantity grown be as great as the economic conditions
Conditions for Growing Sugar-Beets 53
will justify. For a good run of an average-sized factory,
3000 to 5000 acres or more of beets should be grown. It
has been found that factories with a slicing capacity of
800 tons daily are materially more efficient in sugar manu-
facturing than are those handling less than 500 tons daily.
It is a mistake, however, to build a factory with a large
daily capacity in a district not capable of furnishing
beets to supply the daily tonnage for a run lasting in the
neighborhood of ninety to one hundred days. Since it
is impossible to determine accurately beforehand just
what acreage a new region will grow, it is usually better
to build a medium-sized factory capable of being enlarged
than to build a large one that may need to be removed.
In choosing a location for a factory, one of the first
considerations is an abundant supply of pure water.
Large quantities of alkali salts or other foreign matter
in the water make the extraction and purification of the
juices much more difficult than with pure water. Cheap
fuel must be available as well as a good quality of cheap
limestone. With much bulky material such as beets,
coal, and limestone to be moved, transportation costs
run high unless the lowest possible rates are secured. For
this reason it is an advantage to locate a factory where
there is competition from two or more railroads. It is
also better to locate the factory in a position as nearly in
the center of the beet-growing area as possible rather than
to favor a position near a village. The closer the factory is
to the beet fields, the better is the condition of the beets
when they reach the factory.
CHAPTER V
SOILS
SUCCESSFUL sugar-beet production, as well as every other
phase of agriculture, is dependent on the intelligent han-
dling of the soil. All farm profits ultimately go back to the
land. Live-stock, important as it is, merely furnishes a
means of marketing what the soil produces. Every effort
should be made to understand the needs of the soil in
order that it may be made to yield bounteously and
permanently.
RELATION OF SOIL TO BEET-CULTURE
Sugar-beets are not so sensitive as to require a special
kind of soil. They will grow on any good agricultural
land on which the ordinary field crops thrive. As with
other crops, however, beets do better on some soils than
on others. This is reflected much more in the yield than
in the quality of beets. Wiley,1 after making a rather
exhaustive study of beets raised on soils in many parts
of the United States, reports :
1 Wiley, H. W., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. of Chem. Bui No. 96,
p. 34.
54
Sails 55
" The data show in a general way what has been observed
before, that the quality of the soil has but little to do with
sugar content of the beet. It is true that if the soils be
so very poor that the beet is very much stunted in its
growth, reaching a weight of only two or three ounces at
maturity, the poverty of the soil would act in this way to
increase the percentage of sugar in the beet ; but this is
only incidental, since any unfavorable condition would
act in the same way, as, for instance, a deficient rainfall
or imperfect cultivation. It is quite certain that a very
rich soil, in the presence of an environment otherwise
favorable to a large growth, would have the opposite ef-
fect, for the overgrown beet is prone to have an excess
of cellular tissue, to become pithy and be less sweet. In
this case, also, the effect is largely fortuitous, for it is
evident that in any condition of over-fertility the beets
may be grown so close together as to prevent large size,
and thus their percentage of sugar may be largely con-
served.
"It is undoubtedly true that the use of certain fer-
tilizers in definite proportions may tend to increase the
percentage of sugar. This is particularly true of potash
and phosphoric acid. On the contrary, an abundant
supply of nitrogenous fertilizer may tend to depress the
content of sugar. In the latter case the effect is probably
due to a tendency to increase the growth, while in the
former case it may be partly due to securing a proper
ripening of the beet and thus avoiding overgrowth, and
partly to actual saccharigenic influences of the fertilizers
themselves. Whatever the physiological action may be,
it is evident that neither soil nor fertilizer is the dominant
56 The Sugar-Beet in America
or even important factor affecting the percentage of sugar
in the beet."
Even though, as pointed out above, the soil does not
affect greatly the sugar-content of the beet, it is of the
highest importance in determining yield ; and after all it
is yield in which the farmer is most interested. The fac-
tory is also interested in securing a high tonnage of sugar
to the acre. Every phase of the soil should, therefore, be
given consideration by the producer of sugar-beets.
ORIGIN OF SOILS
The material of which the soil is made has been de-
rived largely from the rocks and minerals composing the
crust of the earth ; but in some soils a considerable part
is made up of vegetative matter from the bodies of dead
plants. All agricultural soils contain a small quantity
of organic matter which is intimately mixed with the
mineral matter. It is difficult to tell in all cases just
the kind of rock from which a given soil is derived, since
a great amount of weathering and mixing often cause it
almost to lose its original identity.
Numerous minerals may be isolated from every soil,
but in the finer soils the minerals are separated only with
difficulty on account of the minuteness of the particles.
Among the most common minerals making up the soil
are quartz, the feldspars, hornblende, pyroxene, mica,
chlorite, calcite, dolomite, gypsum, apatite, and the
zeolites. Each of these brings to the soil some plant-food
that helps to nourish the crop. Some of them make much
better soils than others, but all contribute their part.
Soils 57
Few of these minerals occur separately; they are
usually combined to form the different igneous and sedi-
mentary rocks, which, on decomposing, form soils. Each
one has its effect on the resulting soil. Granite, con-
taining a potash feldspar, gives a soil rich in potash and
also high in phosphoric acid, which comes from small
apatite crystals. Eruptive rocks as a class decompose
slowly, but usually form highly productive soils. Hard
limestone dissolves slowly, but the softer varieties go into
solution readily. Limestone soils, from which much of
the lime has been leached, form some of the richest soils.
Many of the better sugar-beet sections of America have
soil high in lime. Sandstone soils are often poor, but this
depends on the material cementing the grains together.
Claystone soils are usually rich in plant-food, but are too
heavy for the best growth of sugar-beets. Hardpans
are formed where an excess of alkali accompanies the
clay.
Soils are formed from minerals and rocks by the various
chemical and physical agencies of rock decay known as
weathering. The most important of these agencies are :
(1) heat and cold, (2) water, (3) ice, (4) the atmosphere,
and (5) plants and animals. Their action is both me-
chanical and chemical, the mechanical causing the break-
ing up of the rock into finer fragments, and the chemical
causing a change in the actual composition of the material.
CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS
Soils may be classified according to their origin as either
sedentary or transported. Sedentary soils are of two
58 The Sugar-Beet in America
kinds : those that overlie the rock from which they were
formed, and those formed in place largely by the accumu-
lation of organic matter, as in swamps. Transported soils
vary with the agent used in carrying the materials of which
they are composed. Those transported by running water
are called alluvial; by ice, glacial; by wind, seolian;
and by the ocean, marine. Each of these kinds of soils
has its own peculiar properties, although the composition
is dependent largely on the rock from which it is formed.
Probably more sugar-beets are raised on the alluvial soils
than on any other group, although good beet sections are
found on all the groups.
In addition to classification according to origin, soils
are sometimes classified by their chemical composition,
by the native vegetation growing on them, by the crops
to which they are suited, by the size of particles com-
posing them, and by a number of other properties. For
our purpose the classification according to the crop adap-
tation is probably most interesting.
SOIL AND SUBSOIL
(Plates VI and VII)
For practical purposes, the soil layer is divided into
the surface soil and subsoil, the subsoil being the part
below the plowed zone. Soils vary greatly in their general
make-up; some are but a few inches deep and overlie
rock, whereas others are hundreds of feet deep and fairly
uniform throughout. Every gradation between these two
is found, including clay surface soil with gravelly subsoil
or gravelly surface with clay below. In arid regions the
sa
i 3
?§
Soils 59
difference between the surface and the subsoil is not great,
the subsoil being in many cases just as fertile and mellow
as the upper layer. In humid regions, on the other hand,
the subsoil is often compact and, on account of its lack
of aeration, seems "dead" when brought to the surface.
Such soils sometimes require a number of years to be-
come fertile. Sugar-beets, on account of their deep pene-
tration of roots and their high air requirement, find their
best growth only in soils having a subsoil condition that
is favorable. Any hardpan layer is particularly detri-
mental.
SOIL TEXTURE
Soils vary greatly in the size of particles composing
them. Some are made up almost entirely of coarse parti-
cles; others are composed entirely of fine. Most soils,
however, contain some fine and some coarse grains, the
relative number of each determining the texture, which
cannot be modified by the farmer. The texture of the
soil has a great influence on the method of tillage as well
as on a number of its properties, such as the water-hold-
ing capacity, the circulation of air, and the availability
of plant-food. These all help in determining the kind
of crop that should be grown. For example, peaches and
cherries thrive on a soil having a coarse texture ; the small
grains prefer a " heavier " soil ; sugar-beets and most other
crops do best on soils of intermediate texture, such as the
loams.
The various sizes of particles composing the soil have
been classified by the United States Department of
Agriculture, Bureau of Soils, as follows :
60
The Sugar-Beet in America
TABLE III. — NUMBER OF SOIL PARTICLES IN A GRAM OP SOIL
OF DIFFERENT TEXTURES
NAME
DIAMETER IN
MILLIMETERS
NUMBER op PARTICLES
IN A GRAM OF SOIL
1. Fine gravel ....
2. Coarse sand ....
3. Medium sand . . .
4. Fine sand
5. Very fine sand . . .
6. Silt
2.000-1.000
1.000-0.500
0.500-0.250
0.250-0.100
0.100-0.050
0.050-0.005
2.52
1,723
13,500
123,600
1,687,000
65,000,000
7. Clay
Less than 0.005
45,500,000,000
A soil composed entirely of particles of a single size is
never found ; hence the name given to a soil type depends
on the relative mixture of these various sizes. The terms
most commonly used for these mixtures are: (1) coarse
sand, (2) medium sand, (3) fine sand, (4) sandy loam, (5)
loam, (6) silt loam, (7) clay loam, and (8) clay. Farmers,
speaking in a general way, usually call their soil sand,
loam, or clay.
Of the properties of the soil affected by texture, prob-
ably none is of greater practical importance than the
water-holding capacity. Moisture is held in thin films
around the soil particles and the quantity that can be re-
tained depends largely on the surface area of the particles,
which, in turn, depends on the size of the particles. This
is illustrated by the fact that a coarse sand will hold
scarcely 15 per cent of water, whereas a clay may hold
45 per cent.
Soils 61
SOIL STRUCTURE
Structure refers to the arrangement of the soil particles,
which may be wedged tightly together or so arranged that
there is considerable air space between. The numerous
sizes of particles present in any soil make possible a great
difference in structure, particularly in fine soils. Soil
tilth, which has such great practical importance, is
determined largely by its structure, or the grouping of
particles. Soil grains packed tightly together form a soil
of poor tilth. When plowed, such a soil breaks up into
clods instead of falling apart in granules or floccules. A
loose structure gives lines of weakness extending in every
direction through the soil. When this condition exists,
the soil crumbles readily, but when the opposite condition
is found, much work is necessary to put the soil in good
condition. The facts that sugar-beets in growing expand
greatly and that they require considerable air make very
desirable a soil with a good structure.
IMPROVING SOIL TILTH
The tilth of a coarse-grained soil cannot be greatly af-
fected, since it is always fairly good, but a clay requires
constant care to prevent its becoming puddled. Many
farmers have learned through experience that by culti-
vating a clay soil when too wet, they can so injure the tilth
that several years are required to get it back into good
condition. Almost anything causing a movement in soil
may affect its tilth. Among the common factors are:
(1) tillage, (2) the growth of roots, (3) alternate freezing
62 The Sugar-Beet in America
and thawing, (4) alternate wetting and drying, (5) or-
ganic matter, (6) soluble salts, (7) animal life, and (8)
storms. The tilth of the soil is the result of a combined
action of a number of these factors, all of which improve
it, except certain kinds of storms and certain soluble salts
like sodium carbonate.
AIR IN THE SOIL
Oxygen is as necessary for the growth of plants as it is
for that of animals. It is, therefore, impossible to have a
fertile soil unless there are spaces through which air can
circulate. Seeds in germinating, and roots in growing,
require oxygen which is absorbed while carbon dioxid is
given off. The decay of organic matter uses oxygen
and forms carbon dioxid which accumulates in the soil
air. If conditions in the soil do not favor a free move-
ment of air, the oxygen supply soon becomes reduced to
a point at which plant growth is retarded. The aeration
of the soil is dependent on texture, structure, drainage,
and a number of other factors. In a coarse sand, air
moves readily, but in a clay, especially if it is compact,
the movement is slow. Puddling greatly reduces aeration,
whereas flocculating the soil particles into groups pro-
motes the ready movement of air.
A water-logged soil, on account of the lack of oxygen,
usually has a low crop-producing power. A free circu-
lation of air, resulting from placing drains under such a
soil, is in part responsible for the increased yields that
follow drainage. The beneficial nitrifying and nitrogen-
fixing bacteria require an abundant supply of oxygen for
Sails 63
their best growth; their action is practically discon-
tinued when the air supply is reduced greatly.
SOIL HEAT
The temperature of the soil is important because of its
influence on the germination of seeds and on the growth of
plants, and also because of its effect on chemical changes
and bacterial action in the soil. When a soil is cold, life
in it is dormant and chemical action is reduced. The
earlier a soil is warmed in spring and the later it is kept
warm in fall, the longer is the growing season. This is
very important for sugar-beets, since there is not time
during a short season to store large quantities of sugar.
Soil heat is derived largely from the sun, the rays of
which are most effective when striking perpendicularly.
A south slope, therefore, is considerably warmer than one
facing the north. A sandy soil is also warmer than a
clay. On account of the high specific heat of water, a
wet soil is much slower to warm up in spring than a well-
drained soil. The high evaporation from a wet soil also
reduces the temperature. Such factors as colors, specific
heat, and tillage play an important r61e in regulating soil
temperature.
ORGANIC MATTER
The chemical, physical, and biological conditions of the
soil are greatly influenced by organic matter because it
reacts favorably on the tilth, the water-holding capacity,
and the temperature of the soil. Through its decay, or-
ganic matter increases the availability of mineral matter
64 The Sugar-Beet in America
and hastens desirable chemical changes in the soil. It also
makes possible the work of bacteria by furnishing them
food.
The organic matter of the soil is derived largely from
the decay of roots, leaves, and stems. If the beet tops
and crowns are left in the field, a considerable amount of
organic matter is furnished. In arid regions, where the
growth of native vegetation is light, the organic content
of the soil is low and requires special attention. Indeed,
the getting of a good supply of humus into the soil is one
of the chief problems in the management of most soils.
Organic matter is maintained by the addition of farm
manure and other plant and animal refuse and by the
raising of crops to be plowed under. The wise sugar-beet
farmer will use large quantities of stable manure and, in
his rotation, will arrange to plow under some leguminous
crop or the manure resulting from it. On new land, it is
often necessary to raise clover or alfalfa and turn under a
crop before beets can be made to thrive.
SOIL MOISTURE
No factor in crop production is more important than
soil moisture. Every plant and animal requires water
for its life and growth. Plants may live a considerable
time without receiving mineral food, but if water is with-
held they soon wilt and die. The yield of beets in any
particular year usually is a reflection of the moisture
conditions during the growing season. Even in humid
regions, the lack of available moisture often is responsible
for a failure in the beet crop. On more than half of the
Smh 65
tillable surface of the earth, the shortage of moisture is
the chief limiting factor concerned in crop growth, while
in parts of the humid regions an excess of water in the
soil prevents the cultivation of vast areas of otherwise
fertile land. It is apparent, therefore, that soil moisture
is worthy of the most careful consideration.
The quantity of moisture in the soil is not so stable as
the mineral constituents, but it varies from season to
season and from day to day. More is being added from
time to time, and losses occur through a number of chan-
nels. Even if for a short period no water is added or lost,
a constant movement is going on with a tendency to es-
tablish an equilibrium which is seldom or never reached.
Many forces are at work, making it difficult to determine
all the laws by which soil moisture is influenced. The
conditions of the moisture depend largely on the quan-
tity present and the nature of the soil, which is able to
hold only about a certain amount of moisture. When
more is added, it percolates rapidly. As the quantity
decreases, the tenacity with which it is held increases.
A sandy soil reaches the point of saturation with much less
water than does a clay. The condition of the moisture,
therefore, is not always the same with a given percentage,
but varies with the texture of the soil. The water of
the soil is usually divided into three classes, determined
by the percentage present. These are: (1) free, or
gravitational, (2) capillary, or film, and (3) hygroscopic
water. The maintenance in the soil of the proper moisture
content for the best growth of crops is one of the most
difficult phases of farming. The practical side of this
question is discussed more fully in Chapter X.
66 The Sugar-Beet in America
SOIL ALKALI
In many of the sugar-beet areas of America, a condi-
tion known as alkali in the soil is met. This condition is
found in practically all arid regions and results from the
presence of large quantities of soluble material in the soil,
which is rendered valueless by these salts if they are
present in quantities that inhibit crop growth. Many
soils containing considerable alkali will raise good crops
until stronger concentrations are brought near the sur-
face by evaporation of large quantities of water. In fact,
some farmers contend that sugar-beets do better if a small
amount of alkali is present. It is well known that after
beets get a good start they are able to endure more alkali
than many other common field crops. Experiments,1
however, have shown that young beet seedlings are rather
tender, and if much alkali is present near the surface
when the seed is planted, germination will be poor.
In considering a tract of land for sugar-beet production,
a careful survey of alkali conditions should be made, since
new land is not likely to show the salt so much as is old,
particularly when careless methods of irrigation are used.
In the management of soils containing rather large quan-
tities of soluble salts, even though toxic limits have not
been reached, the farmer should know how to prevent
accumulation at the surface. He should also make pro-
vision to reclaim the land when such a step becomes
necessary.
1 Hams, F. S. " Effect of Alkali Salts in Soils on the Ger-
mination and Growth of Crops." Jour. Agr. Research. Vol. V.
pp. 1-52 (Oct. 4, 1915).
PLATE VII. — Top, an alkali spot, showing a soil condition unfavorable
to sugar-beets; center, a full crop of alfalfa being plowed under to pre-
pare the land for sugar-beets ; usually corn or potatoes follows alfalfa
a year before beets are planted ; below, plowing beet land, Colorado.
(Photo L. A. Moorhouse.)
Soils 67
Any soluble salt present in sufficient quantities may be
considered an alkali. The salts most commonly causing
injury are sodium chloride, or common salt ; sodium sul-
fate, or Glauber's salt; sodium carbonate, or salsoda;
and magnesium sulfate, or epsom salt. In addition
to these, sodium nitrate and a number of other salts
cause injury in some districts. Sodium chloride is
injurious to beets when present in lower concentra-
tions than any of the other salts mentioned ; sodium
carbonate, or black alkali, injures the soil when present
in low concentrations by dissolving the organic matter and
causing a hard crust to form. Beets will grow in rela-
tively large quantities of the sulfates.
The injury done to crops by alkali salts results largely
from the shutting off of water from the plant on account
of the soil solution's having a greater concentration than
the plant-cells. By the law of osmosis, water passes
from the dilute to the more concentrated solution. In a
normal soil the root has a cell-sap with a higher concen-
tration than the soil solution ; hence water passes from the
soil into the plant. When the soil solution is made too
concentrated, water passes out of the roots into the soil
and the plant dies.
The permanent reclamation of alkali lands rests on the
removal of the excessive salts by drainage. The methods
of accomplishing this are discussed in Chapter X. Where
the accumulation of alkali results from the over-irriga-
tion of higher lands, the remedy is obviously the preven-
tion of percolating water, which carries soluble salts from
the higher and concentrates them in lower lands. Any
practice that reduces evaporation, such as cultivation,
68 The Sugar-Beet in America
cropping, or the use of farm manure, tends to reduce the
accumulation of these salts.
ACID SOILS
Soil acidity is not nearly so serious a problem in the
sugar-beet areas of the country as is alkali, but in some
districts it occurs. Sugar-beets, in common with most
ordinary crops, require for their best growth an alkaline,
or basic, reaction of the soil. This is not the condition
mentioned above as alkali, but refers to the chemical
reaction. Such important crops as alfalfa can hardly be
made to grow on an acid soil, since the bacteria that
fix nitrogen in connection with growth on the roots of
these plants require a basic reaction. Acid soils are
most often found in humid regions where the basic ele-
ments of the soil minerals have been leached out, leaving
the acid part behind ; in swamp lands where the decay
of large quantities of vegetable matter also results in
an acid condition due to the accumulation of organic
acids.
An acid soil is indicated by the growth of a number
of plants, among which are common sorrel, sour dock,
and horsetail, also by the failure of alfalfa and other leg-
umes to do well. Blue litmus paper and a number of
other laboratory tests may be used in determining acidity
and the amount of lime necessary to correct the condition.
The kind of lime to use depends on conditions; burned
lime and ground limestone both accomplish the result.
Ground limestone, however, is usually cheaper and, if
fine enough, is effective.
Sails
PLANT-FOOD IN THE SOIL
The method by which plants secure their food from
the soil has been known less than a century. From the
time of the ancient Greeks and Romans down to the
beginning of the nineteenth century, investigators sought
to find some one substance in the soil that was the real
food of plants. At different times it was thought to be
fire, water, niter, oil, and many other materials. During
this period all plant-food was supposed to come from the
soil ; it was not known that the greater part of it comes
from the air.
Of the ten elements required by plants, seven, in ad-
dition to those obtained from water, come from the soil.
These are potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium,
iron, sulfur, and nitrogen. A number of non-essential
elements, including sodium, chlorine, and silicon, are also
taken up by most plants. All crops require the same
elements for their growth, although they do not use them
in the same proportion. Sugar-beets and potatoes use
relatively large quantities of potassium, the gram crops
require considerable phosphorus, while alfalfa and clover
use more calcium.
Soils are made up largely of insoluble material of no
food value to plants. The amount of actual plant-food
in the soil is comparatively small, but since plants do not
use large quantities of this food, the supply of most of the
elements is sufficient for crop production. Only a small
part of the total plant-food of the soil is available during
any one year. Roots penetrate every part of the surface
soil, but they can absorb only the material that is in solu-
70 The Sugar-Beet in America
tion. The carbon dioxid given off by roots assists in
dissolving the minerals of the soil.
The making available of reserve plant-foods as fast as
needed by crops is one of the chief problems of soil man-
agement. This is done : (1) by tillage, which aids the
weathering agencies in their action on soil particles; (2)
by drainage, which allows air to circulate more freely
through the soil; (3) by plowing under organic matter,
which in decaying helps to make the minerals soluble;
and (4) by numerous other less important means. The
nitrogen present in the soil is made available by nitrifica-
tion, which is favored by tillage and by a desirable mois-
ture-content. Plant-foods that are likely to be scarce are
discussed hi Chapter VI.
SOIL BACTERIA
The soil is not a mass of dead matter, but is filled with
myriads of living organisms, which are constantly trans-
forming its compounds and renewing its productiveness.
These organisms work on the bodies of plants and dead
animals and make the material composing them useful to
growing plants. All life on the earth is dependent for its
continuance on these unseen organisms, but for whose
renewing action the available plant-food would in time
be consumed, all plant life would then cease, and animals
would soon follow.
The most important of these organisms of the soil are
the bacteria, the existence of which was discovered in
1695. They are so small that it would take about 25,000
of them placed side by side to reach an inch. They in-
Sails 71
crease very rapidly when conditions are favorable. Many
of the diseases of plants and animals are caused by bac-
teria. This does not mean that all are harmful; many
are decidedly beneficial.
These germs cause the decay of the coarse organic
matter of the soil and assist in the formation of the more
useful humus. They are exceedingly important in con-
nection with the nitrification, that is, with the transfor-
mation of nitrogen from the unavailable form to the
nitrates, which are taken up by crops. Certain forms of
bacteria also assist in fixing the nitrogen of the air and
in making it into a food for plants. This is done mainly
in connection with the legume crops, although some forms
fix nitrogen without the aid of legumes.
SELECTING A SUGAR-BEET SOIL
As previously stated, sugar-beets do not absolutely re-
quire any given kind of soil ; they are successfully raised
on almost every type of soil when other conditions are
favorable. This does not mean that all soils are equally
well suited to raising the crop. Usually it does not pay
to raise beets on any but well-adapted soils.
A number of conditions must be strictly avoided. One
of these is a hardpan near the surface that would inter-
fere with the deep rooting of the beets. Another condi-
tion to be avoided is a water-logged soil. Of course
this can usually be overcome by drainage, but as a rule
beets should not be planted until after the drain is in
operation.
So far as texture is concerned, a loam is best adapted
72 The Sugar-Beet in America
to beets, for it is easy to work and allows a ready move-
ment of air. At the same time, it will hold sufficient
moisture to meet the needs of the beet plant. A sand,
although easy to work, is likely to be lacking in fertility and
water-holding capacity. A clay, though having a high
water-holding capacity, is likely to be difficult to work
and is usually not sufficiently well aerated. Depth,
proper texture, fertility, and desirable water relations de-
serve careful attention.
CHAPTER VI
MANURING AND ROTATIONS
THE fact that sugar-beets may often be raised for
several years on the same land without a decrease in
yield has led many farmers to believe that the productivity
of the land can be maintained without either the appli-
cation of fertilizers or changing the crop. The opposite
point of view, that beets are very hard on the land, is some-
tunes held. Neither of these extremes is true. Where
sugar-beets are raised continuously, a certain amount of
food is carried away. Particularly is this the case if
the tops and crowns are removed, since they contain the
great part of the mineral salts of the entire plant. An
unreplenished deposit of money in the bank, no matter
how large, will in time be exhausted if continually drawn
on. The plant-foods in the soil may be considered in
much the same way.
Fortunately most soils on which sugar-beets are raised
in America are high in mineral plant-foods ; further, very
little of this mineral matter is lost if the by-products are
returned to the land. Nevertheless, maintaining the
fertility of the soil and thereby insuring a high yield is
one of the chief problems of sugar-beet production.
73
74
The Sugar-Beet in America
PLANT-FOOD REQUIREMENTS OF BEETS
As previously stated, all crops use the same foods, but
they do not use these foods in the same proportion, and as
a result, the various crops have different fertilizer needs.
Of the seven mineral foods used by crops, all are present
in most soils in sufficient quantity to meet the needs
except nitrogen, potash, and phosphorus. In a few
exceptional soils other minerals are lacking, but they form
no important need. The following table gives the amount
of these scarce plant-foods used by sugar-beets in com-
parison with other crops :
TABLE IV. — MINERAL FOODS REMOVED FROM THE SOIL BY
CROPS
CROP
YIELD
NITROGEN
POTASH
PHOSPHORIC
ACID
Sugar-beets
10 tons
30.0 pounds
70.0 pounds
14.0 pounds
Potatoes .
6 tons
47.0 pounds
76.5 pounds
21.5 pounds
Wheat . .
30 bushels
48.0 pounds
28.8 pounds
21.1 pounds
Barley . .
40 bushels
48.0 pounds
35.7 pounds
20.7 pounds
Oats . . .
45 bushels
55.0 pounds
43.1 pounds
19.4 pounds
Corn . .
40 bushels
56.0 pounds
23.0 pounds
2 1.0 pounds
Meadow
hay . .
1.5 tons
49.0 pounds
50.9 pounds
12.3 pounds
Red clover
2.0 tons
102.0 pounds
83.4 pounds
24.9 pounds
This table shows that sugar-beets use relatively large
quantities of potash but not so much nitrogen or phos-
phoric acid.
Studies of the effect of the various fertilizers on growth
have shown that excessive nitrogen stimulates leaf growth.
Manuring and Rotations 75
Potash is closely associated with photosynthesis in the
formation of sugar in the leaves, whereas phosphoric
acid is required in large quantities in the formation of
seeds. This may explain in part the high potash re-
quirements of sugar-beets, since work must be carried on
in the leaves in producing sugar.
WAYS OF MAINTAINING SOIL FERTILITY
Various means may be used in maintaining the pro-
ductivity of the land. Probably no system is complete
that does not provide for the return to the land of at least
a part of the mineral matter removed by the crop. This
may be accomplished by the use of barnyard manure or
by the addition of the substances in the form of com-
mercial fertilizers. The plowing under of green-manure
may also help in making available elements contained in
the soil in large quantities, but in a condition that the
crop cannot make use of them. In cases in which legumes
are used for green-manure, there is also a direct addition
of plant-food in the shape of nitrogen. Every good sys-
tem of keeping the soil productive will include a rotation
so arranged that the maximum returns will be secured
and that will, at the same time, maintain the soil in
good condition. Under most conditions, the practical
method of maintaining the fertility of sugar-beet soil will
combine all the ways mentioned. Farm-yard manure
will be supplemented by the wise use, in a commercial
form, of elements necessary to balance the needs of the
crop on any particular soil; and crop rotations will be
practiced in which some legumes will be plowed under as
76 The Sugar-Beet in America
a green-manure. With this combination, the produc-
tivity of the soil should not only be kept up but should
actually be increased.
HOW TO DETERMINE FERTILIZER NEEDS
In order that there may be no waste of material, it is
important to know just what are the fertilizer needs of
the soil. This problem is not so simple as it might at
first seem to be. Soon after the methods by which
plants feed and the elements they require from the soil
were discovered, it was thought that by making a chemical
analysis of the soil, its fertilizer requirements could be
determined at once. It soon was found, however, that so
many factors entered into the problem that this method
could not be relied on. For example, an analysis may
show a soil to be rich in potassium and at the same time
this soil may give a marked response to the addition of
potash fertilizers. This is true for all plant-food ele-
ments. In some cases, the elements shown by a chemical
analysis to be lowest in the soil are the ones that give
least returns when added as fertilizers. Numerous exper-
iments have shown that an analysis of the soil is useful
when taken with other tests, but that alone it is not
sufficient.
Field tests carried over long periods of time have been
found necessary in making a thorough diagnosis of the
needs of a soil. These may be supplemented by pot
tests and by chemical analyses. A complete understand-
ing of a soil cannot be obtained without a combination
of field and laboratory tests. When all this information
Manuring and Rotations 77
is brought together and carefully studied, a fairly ac-
curate judgment of the soil requirements may be made.
The practice of applying any kind of fertilizer the dealer
may have for sale, without making a thorough investi-
gation, cannot be too strongly condemned.
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS FOR BEETS
In some regions where an abundance of farm manure is
available, little or no commercial fertilizer may be needed
for beets. There are many sections, however, where the
supply of manure is insufficient. In these places com-
mercial fertilizers will find increased use. The kind of
fertilizer will of course depend largely on soil conditions.
From Table IV it is evident that the sugar-beet plant
uses relatively large quantities of potassium, which means
that sugar-beet fertilizers should be well supplied with
this element. After this requirement is satisfied, an
effort should be made to supply a well-balanced fer-
tilizer for the average soil. Voorhees 1 shows that sugar-
beets grown on light soils often require potash, while on
heavier loamy soils this element is not needed. He brings
out the fact that fertilizers that produce too rapid or too
prolonged growth tend to reduce the percentage of sugar.
Phosphoric acid is one of the most necessary constituents
to produce a large and rapid leaf growth in the early part
of the season when the plant is preparing itself for the
storage of sugar. This fertilizer should, therefore, be
present in comparatively large quantities in the soluble
form during the early period of growth.
1 Voorhees, E. B., "Fertilizers," pp. 235-240.
78 The Sugar-Beet in America
While applying nitrogen in a form to encourage steady
and continuous growth would result in a large yield, it
would also produce beets low in sugar. In order to en-
courage the desirable early growth, nitrogen should be
supplied largely in the readily available form in the
spring before planting; organic, or slow-acting, forms
should not be applied at that time.
When beets are raised for stock feed, fertilizing should
be done in such a way that rapid and continuous growth
is secured. This is accomplished by large applications of
nitrogen and phosphoric acid throughout the season,
especially the former. The liberal use of farm manure
would be desirable in this connection, especially on heavy
soils. On light soils all the fertilizer elements could be
supplied as commercial fertilizers.
A discussion of the sources of the various fertilizer
elements follows.
Nitrogen.
The most expensive of all the fertilizer elements is
nitrogen. The supply of this element is also limited.
Formerly, it was obtained in the form of guano, which is
manure and decayed bodies of birds, but this supply is
now practically exhausted. At present the chief source
is the beds of sodium nitrate, or Chile saltpeter, found
in Chile. It lies near the surface of the ground in great
beds, but is so mixed with rock and earth that the leach-
ing out of the salt is necessary before it is ready for market.
Nitrogen in the form of sodium nitrate is directly avail-
able to plants.
Ammonium sulfate is another important source of
Manuring and Rotations 79
nitrogen. In making coal-gas by the distillation of coal,
a quantity of ammonia is given off. The gas is passed
through sulfuric acid in which the ammonia is removed
and ammonium sulfate formed. This salt is about 20
per cent nitrogen.
By means of electricity and in other ways, it is possible
to combine the nitrogen of the air in such a manner that
it can be used as a fertilizer. The chief products of these
processes are calcium nitrate and calcium cyanamid. The
main difficulty in the way of using these fertilizers more
widely is the lack of cheap power which is required in
their manufacture.
Many animal products are used for their nitrogen.
Dried blood, dried flesh, ground fish, tankage, hoof-and-
horn meal, and wool and hair wastes are all used. The
availability of nitrogen in these compounds decreases
about in the order named. The nitrogen of dried blood
is available at once, whereas in leather and hair it becomes
available slowly.
It is probable that the future supply of nitrogen will
come more and more from the use of leguminous plants
rather than from the addition to the soil of material from
the outside. The supply of these materials is diminishing,
but there is no limit to the use that may be made of these
nitrogen-gathering crops.
Phosphorus.
Fertilizers yielding phosphorus are obtained from both
organic and mineral sources. Bones in various forms are
extensively used. Formerly they were used chiefly raw,
both ground and unground; now most of the bone is
80 The Sugar-Beet in America
steamed or burned to remove fat and nitrogenous ma-
terials which are used for other purposes. The fine
grinding of bone makes its phosphorus more readily avail-
able. Tankage relatively high in bone is used largely for
its phosphorus; if high in flesh scraps it is valuable for
its nitrogen. Bone is sometimes treated with sulfuric
acid to render its phosphorus more available.
Mineral phosphorus is found in several kinds of rock,
which usually have the phosphoric acid in combination
with lime, iron, and aluminum. The presence of the
last two elements reduces the availability of the phos-
phorus. Rock phosphates are used in various ways.
Formerly practically all of the rock was treated with
sulfuric acid to form super-phosphate, or acid phosphate
as it is often called; but of late years the use of finely
ground raw rock-phosphate has increased, especially in
soils rich in organic matter. The acid phosphate is doubt-
less more immediately available than the raw rock, but
it is also much more expensive.
In the manufacture of steel from pig-iron, much phos-
phorus is removed with the basic slag, called Thomas
slag. It is often ground and used as a fertilizer.
Potassium.
Most of the potash fertilizers used in the world have in
the past come from the Stassfurt deposits in Germany.
Here many minerals rich in potash are found. Some of
these are ground and put directly on the land ; others are
leached with water to concentrate them before being
used. Kainit and silvinit are among the most common
of these minerals.
Manuring and Rotations 81
Wood ashes have for generations been known to be high
in potash. They are often applied directly to land, but
are sometimes leached to obtain the potash in a more
concentrated form. In some countries where sunshine
is abundant, sea water is evaporated and potassium ob-
tained by fractional crystallization. During the last
few years much potash has been obtained from kelp, which
is harvested in the sea with special boats. This is a
promising source of potash.
The mineral alunite is also being used to a considerable
extent as a source of potash. Rather extensive beds occur
in Utah and other parts of the West. Other minerals,
such as orthoclase feldspar, have a rather high potash-
content, but cheap methods of making it available have
not yet been developed.
INDIRECT FERTILIZERS
Many soils, particularly in humid regions, have an acid
reaction which is not conducive to the best growth of
most crops. It is necessary to neutralize this acidity be-
fore sugar-beets will thrive. This is best done by the use
of some form of lime. Burned lime has been used ex-
tensively, but it is gradually giving way to finely ground
limestone which is much easier to handle and much
cheaper. The effectiveness of limestone depends to a
great extent on the fineness of grinding.
Many substances are added to the soil because of their
stimulating action. Among the most common of these
are common salt, gypsum, iron sulfate, soot, and man-
ganese salts. It may be advisable to use some of these
€
82 The Sugar-Beet in America
materials in special cases, but their general use is not
recommended, since they add no plant-food and their
temporary benefit may have a later and undesired re-
action.
HOME-MIXING OF FERTILIZERS
Many farmers would rather pay more for fertilizers
that are already mixed than to take the trouble of mix-
ing them. This is largely because they do not realize how
much more they have to pay for the various elements
when purchased in the commercial brands of fertilizer
than if obtained as the simple fertilizing materials, such as
sodium nitrate, acid phosphate, and potassium sulfate.
Fertilizer manufacturers possess no special secrets that
cannot be learned by any farmer who will study the
subject a little. It is a poor policy to pay hundreds of
dollars every year for a fertilizer about which nothing is
known except what is told by a salesman. Better economy
would lead the farmer to spend a few dollars buying books
on the subject, as the information obtained from any
good book on fertilizers may make possible a saving of
25 to 50 per cent of the fertilizer bill. Any farmer can,
with but little expense, prepare a place in which to mix
fertilizers. Then by purchasing the materials best
suited to his conditions, he can mix them himself and
thereby obtain a much more effective fertilizer at the same
cost.
FARM MANURE FOR SUGAR-BEETS
In every beet-producing section an effort should be
made to utilize fully all farm manure that can be obtained.
Manuring and Rotations 83
This is the surest means of preserving soil fertility. Prac-
tically every farm produces a quantity of this by-product
of animal husbandry, and a wise use of it is fundamental
to permanent agriculture. Since the very dawn of history
the excreta of animals have been used as fertilizer. Al-
though for a long time little was known of the way in
which it improved the soil, the increased yield of crops
was evident. Manure is now known to benefit the soil
by adding directly a quantity of plant-food, by increas-
ing the organic matter, and by aiding the work of de-
sirable organisms. It may not in all cases be a com-
plete and well-balanced fertilizer for beets in all soils, but
it can always be recommended with safety. Where sugar-
beets have been raised for any length of time, farmers
have learned the great value of manure. Probably no
other common field crop has done more to promote a
careful use of farm manure.
The amount to apply depends on that available, the
nature of the soil, and the rotation used. When beets
are raised in a regular rotation, the manure can usually
be applied with greater profit to the sugar-beet crop than
to almost any other crop in the rotation. An applica-
tion of five to twenty tons to the acre usually gives good
results ; ten tons is a fair application. The amount de-
pends in part on the kind of manure. Quality is influ-
enced by the kind of animal producing it and by a number
of other factors. Manure produced by poultry and sheep
is concentrated and dry; that produced by cattle and
horses contains more moisture and coarse material. The
manure of any kind of animal is influenced by the kind
of food it eats and by its age and work. Old animals
84 The Sugar-Beet in America
that do but little work and eat much rich food produce
the best manure.
Liquid manure is richer in plant-food elements than
the solid, but it lacks the organic matter so beneficial to
most soils. Good husbandry requires the saving of both
the liquid and the solid manure, which can easily be kept
together if sufficient bedding material is used to absorb
the liquid.
Handling farm manure.
Experience has demonstrated that the best way to
handle manure is to haul it out and spread it on the
land while it is fresh. This prevents any serious loss from
leaching or fermentation, which are the methods by which
manure deteriorates. When left carelessly exposed to
the weather for six months, manure loses about half its
value. This loss can be overcome in a large measure by
proper storage without expensive equipment. The plant-
foods contained in manure are readily soluble and but
little rain is required to dissolve and carry them away.
If manure is left scattered in the open yard, -it is wet
through by every rain and the greater part of the plant-
food is washed out before the season is over. If manure
has to be stored for any length of time, it should be piled so
that it cannot be leached. This may be done by putting
it under cover or by making the pile of proper shape.
Manure is filled with bacteria and fungi which are
constantly at work. Some of these make the manure
heat, causing a loss of considerable nitrogen. Since these
destructive organisms work best in manure that is fairly
loose and dry, their action is most easily prevented by
Manuring and Rotations 85
compacting the manure to exclude air and by keeping it
moist. Many farmers haul manure to the field and leave
it standing for months in small piles. This practice
allows destructive organisms to work rapidly. More-
over, the leaching of the piles causes an irregular dis-
tribution of plant-food in the soil. The idea that the
manure should not be spread until the farmer is ready to
plow it under is erroneous.
Manure must be stored during a part of the year if
no vacant land is available for spreading it. Storage may
be in special manure-pits, under sheds, or in the open
yard. Expensive pits probably do not pay, but simple
devices to assist in handling manure are doubtless good.
When an open yard is used, the neatest and most sani-
tary kind of pile, as well as the one allowing least loss, is
one with vertical sides and with edges slightly higher than
the middle. The manure that is produced each day
should be put on the pile and should be kept compact
and moist. A manure-spreader is a great time-saver
and makes possible a more even distribution than can be
made by hand.
GREEN-MANURES
The plowing under of growing plants to increase the
organic content of the soil has been practiced for gen-
erations. This practice has been found favorable, par-
ticularly in preparing new land for sugar-beets. The
decay of plants helps to make available the mineral foods
of the soil, and to correct physical defects. Plate VII.
Legumes make the best green-manure crops, since they
increase the nitrogen supply by taking this element from
86 The Sugar-Beet in America
the air and combining it in such a way that it can be
used by other plants. The clovers, vetches, cowpeas, soy-
beans, field peas, and alfalfa are all plowed under as green-
manures. The small grains are also much used for this
purpose. A worn-out or poor soil will usually produce a
fair growth of rye which, .when plowed under, puts the
soil in a condition to raise other crops. For beet land
under irrigation, probably no crop will be better as a
green-manure than alfalfa which is used in a rotation
wherein the last crop of alfalfa is plowed under.
KOTATIONS
Reasons for crop rotations.
Some sort of crop rotation has been practiced for
many centuries. The reasons for this practice were
probably not at first understood ; even today all the ef-
fects of alternate cropping are not known, but so many
reasons are now evident that no good excuse seems to
exist for not practicing some kind of rotation on almost
every farm. As pointed out in Table IV, all crops do not
require the various foods in exactly the same propor-
tions : some use more potash or nitrogen ; others need
relatively more phosphorus or lime. If one crop is
grown continuously on the same land, the available supply
of scarce elements is reduced and the yield will finally
decrease; but if crops with different requirements are
alternated, the food supply of the soil is kept in a more
balanced condition. Each kind of plant has a differ-
ent rooting system and manner of growth. If shallow-
rooted crops are grown continuously, only part of the
Manuring and Rotations 87
soil is used; an alternation of deep- and shallow-rooted
crops overcomes this difficulty.
The improvement of the soil furnishes one of the chief
reasons for crop rotation. This improvement is made
possible by the use of legume crops, which fix nitrogen
from the air. The nitrogen fixed by these crops can be
used by others which follow in the rotation, but it would
be lost practically if legumes were raised continuously.
The control of plant diseases, insect pests, and weeds is
made possible by the rotation of crops; indeed, such
considerations often compel a farmer to change his crops
when he would not otherwise do so. Economy in the use
of man-labor, horse-labor, machinery, and irrigation
water results from the raising of a number of crops on
the farm. These considerations alone, without any other
benefits, would be sufficient for practicing rotations.
Sugar-beets require a great deal of tillage. The land
must be plowed thoroughly and deeply ; cultivation dur-
ing the growth of the crop is practiced; and finally at
harvest time, the land must be stirred to considerable
depth to get out the beets. The large roots go deeply
into the soil and promote thorough aeration, and when
the beets are topped a large quantity of organic matter
is added to the land from crowns and tops. All these
practices promote a desirable condition in the soil. It is
also highly desirable to have part of the results of these
intensive methods of cultivation reflected in later crops.
This end is achieved by rotating the crops. The crop
that follows beets in the rotation is benefited by the tillage
given to the beet crop, even though beets add no plant-
food to the soil as do legumes.
88 The Sugar-Beet in America
Principles of good rotations.
No one rotation is good under all conditions ; soil type,
climate, markets, and many other factors must be con-
sidered when planning a rotation. A number of cardinal
principles, however, if kept in mind, will be of considerable
assistance.
It is first necessary to decide what crops can best be
grown under the conditions and what area of each crop
it is best to grow. The following principles should then
be observed : (1) raise about the same acreage of each crop
every year ; (2) have at least one cash crop ; (3) include
a legume crop in the rotation; (4) alternate tilled and
non-tilled crops; (5) alternate deep- and shallow-rooted
crops; (6) alternate exhaustive and restorative crops;
(7) include crops that together will make the best use of
irrigation water, labor, and equipment ; (8) a forage crop
should be included ; (9) follow the best sequence of crops ;
and (10) add manure to the right crop in the rotation.
It is not always possible to conform to all these rules,
but they may serve as useful guides.
Rotations with sugar-beets.
The rotation that should be practiced varies with so
many conditions that the naming of any particular one
to include sugar-beets may be misleading. It must be
remembered, therefore, that no rotation is best for all
conditions. Some of the factors that influence the rota-
tion are : (1) kind of soil, (2) the kind of crops that can
be raised profitably in the region, (3) the proportion of
the farm that is to be planned to beets, (4) the amount of
fertilizer available, (5) the number of live-stock kept on
Manuring and Rotations 89
the farm, (6) the presence of pests and diseases, (7) the
amount of labor that is available, and (8) many other
conditions.
In several of the beet-producing areas where beets have
been raised almost continuously for many years, the
nematode has made it impossible to continue the crop
unless a rotation is introduced. In planning a rotation
for these conditions, it is necessary to eliminate plants
that will foster this pest. Crops available for this pur-
pose are listed in Chapter XIII.
In several districts land has become so high-priced that
it is impossible to raise at a profit many of the crops that
would ordinarily be included in rotations with sugar-
beets. Where a condition of this kind is found, the plan-
ning of a good rotation becomes a real problem. The
plant-foods removed by the beet crop may be added in
commercial fertilizers, but this does not keep out injurious
diseases and pests, neither does it provide the proper
balance in the farm business. A short rotation used in
some of the areas of California having high-priced land
consists of beans and sugar-beets.
In the Arkansas Valley of Colorado and western Kan-
sas, the cucurbit group of crops forms an important part
of the rotation with sugar-beets. Cantaloupes are the
principal of these ; cucumbers are also important. These
crops, with alfalfa and in some cases potatoes, make the
principal crops to alternate with beets.
In northern Colorado and in parts of Utah, several
canning crops, such as peas, beans, and tomatoes, enter
into the rotation. These crops, taken with alfalfa, pota-
toes, sugar-beets, and grain, enter into most of the ro-
90 The Sugar-Beet in America
tations. Under these conditions, it is a rather common
practice to allow alfalfa to grow until the latter part of
May, then plow under the crop and after thoroughly
working down the land, plant potatoes or corn. The
next year beets are planted. The organic matter plowed
under with the alfalfa adds to the humus supply of the
soil and enriches it in nitrogen.
A farmer having eighty acres of land and wishing to
raise twenty acres of beets and having as other possible
crops, alfalfa, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans, and the
small grains, might arrange his crop in a rotation some-
thing like this : alfalfa, four years ; followed by potatoes,
corn, or tomatoes, one year; beets, one year; peas or
beans, one year ; beets again, one year ; grain as a nurse
crop with alfalfa, one year. This would give an eight
years' rotation with the following acreage each : alfalfa,
forty acres ; corn, potatoes, or tomatoes, ten acres ; beets,
twenty acres ; peas or beans, ten acres ; and wheat, oats,
or barley, ten acres.
A variation of this rotation would be to put the two
beet crops together and let the peas or beans follow ; or
if it was desired to have as large an acreage of beets as
possible, the peas and beans could be eliminated and the
beets raised three years continuously if well manured,
giving a total of thirty acres of beets. If the farm were
small, the same general arrangement could be main-
tained, only it is probable that the relative area planted
to beets would be larger. The rotation could readily
be extended or shortened a year or two by increasing or
decreasing the length of time the land was in alfalfa.
Where alfalfa does not thrive, the same general plan
Manuring and Rotations 91
could be carried out with some other sod crop, such as
clover or grass. In a rotation of this kind the use of
manure is usually most effective if applied just previous
to the beet crop. In plowing up alfalfa, it is usually bet-
ter to plant the land to some crop such as corn or pota-
toes for a year before planting beets because of the in-
terfering action of the coarse alfalfa crowns. Clover and
grass land may often be planted to sugar-beets at once,
especially if fall-plowed.
CHAPTER VII
CONTRACTS FOR RAISING BEETS
IT seems desirable both for the sugar company and for
the farmer to have a contract on the raising of beets signed
before the crop is planted. The farmer would have no
market for the crop of beets if the sugar company did not
buy them. He might feed a few to stock, but on the
ordinary beet farm only a comparatively small number
could be used in this way. He should be sure, therefore,
before planting the crop, that the sugar company will
take it ; otherwise, he runs the risk of a heavy loss. Like-
wise, the sugar company needs to know early in the sea-
son the approximate tonnage of beets that it will have to
slice in order that necessary equipment and supplies may
be secured. These conditions have led to the universal
practice of contracting in advance all beets that are raised
for the factory.
ADVANTAGES OF CONTRACTING
Farming is one of the most uncertain of all businesses.
This is partly because of the irregularities in prices. One
year potatoes or hogs will be high and the farmer thinks
he should produce more of these commodities ; but by the
time he has a large number of potatoes or hogs to sell, the
92
Contracts for Raising Beets 93
price has gone so low that he makes nothing. The same
condition is repeated to an extent with most products of
the farm that are marketed in the usual way.
The farmer should have some crop that he can depend
on, with the selling price known at the beginning of the
season. This condition is found in contracted crops like
sugar-beets. They may not give such high returns every
year as some other crops, but the fact that a known price
can be depended on tends to stabilize the entire farm
business. With crops that are contracted, the farmer can
depend on getting his money soon after harvest. Prob-
ably all crops should not be contracted in advance, but a
desirable arrangement is to have some contracted crop
raised in connection with others that are marketed in the
usual way.
ITEMS INCLUDED IN THE CONTRACT
The contracts used by different sugar companies vary
greatly in their content. Some go into considerable de-
tail and specify every point ; others cover only the more
important questions. Items included in some contracts
for raising beets are the following : amount of seed to be
planted to the acre, price of seed, price of seeding, price
of beets, provision for the supervision of growing by the
factory agriculturist, specific directions regarding cul-
tural methods, time of digging, methods of topping,
method of weighing, method of taking tare, standards
for condition and composition of the beets, time of pay-
ment, provision for furnishing labor, and a number of
other points.
94 The Sugar-Beet in America
No single contract includes everything. In one region
one item is important and is mentioned ; in another region
this item may never cause disagreement and would,
therefore, probably not need to be mentioned.
TYPES OF CONTRACTS
Most beet contracts are similar in their wording and
in the points they include but vary in such details as the
price paid for beets, the time of performing the different
kinds of work, and rates for sliding scales, and profit
sharing. The flat rate contract, wherein the farmer re-
ceives a definite price for a ton of beets regardless of
their sugar-content or the price of sugar, is popular in
many districts because of its simplicity and because no
laboratory tests and complex systems of accounting are
involved.
The flat rate contract, however, is not likely to be so
fair to all concerned as either the sliding scale, based on
sugar-content of beets, or the profit-sharing plan, based
on the price of sugar or the net profits from the manu-
facturing of it. Although these systems of setting the
price of beets are rather difficult to handle, they make it
possible for the sugar company to pay more on the aver-
age for beets, because the farmer takes part of the risk.
Why should not both parties share the hazards of the
business and also share in its profits ?
Most companies also have a labor contract by the
provisions of which they assist the farmer to secure the
hand labor required in thinning, hoeing, and digging.
The sugar company is able to get in touch with this
Contracts for Raising Beets 95
labor much easier than the individual farmer and it,
therefore, maintains a labor department whose duty it is
to assist the farmer to get help when he needs it.
Often contracts call for some special bonus based on the
total quantity of beets in the district or some other con-
dition that will boost the industry. These are usually
local and, therefore, call for no particular discussion.
SAMPLE CONTRACTS
The following contract gives a flat rate for beets, but
allows the farmer to share the benefits of a rise in price
of sugar :
No. . .
Acres . .
Sugar Company
SUGAR-BEET CONTRACT
(Locality)
1918
THIS AGREEMENT, in duplicate, this . . day of 191 ,
by and between .... SUGAR COMPANY, a ....
Corporation, hereinafter called the Sugar Company, and . . .
...... of , County of
. . . , hereinafter called the Grower.
WITNESSETH : The Grower agrees to grow in the year of
1918, from seed to be supplied by the Sugar Company . . .
. . . acres of sugar-beets, and to deliver and sell the entire crop
therefrom to the Sugar Company, and the latter agrees to buy and
pay for the same, upon all and singular the terms and conditions
hereinafter set forth, to-wit :
1. The Grower will prepare and cultivate the said land and
harvest the beets grown thereon in a husbandlike manner, and
deliver all beets with the tops closely cut off at the base of the
96 The Sugar-Beet in America
bottom leaf, and will use reasonable effort to protect the same
from frost and sun. The Sugar Company will furnish the seed
at 15 cents per pound to the Grower, and plant the same, when
so requested, at the rate of 65 cents per acre.
2. Delivery of beets shall be made as follows: Until and
including October 15th, only as required by the Sugar Company ;
and after October 15th, the Grower shall deliver without further
notification all unharvested beets, the Sugar Company reserving
the right to reject beets containing less than 12 per cent Sugar.
The Sugar Company, at its option, may accept or reject any
beets not delivered on or before November 30th.
3. All such beets to be delivered at the expense of the Grower
in a manner and condition satisfactory to the Sugar Company,
in the sheds or on cars at the .... factory, or at the re-
ceiving station at In case of no care, the
Grower agrees to unload in piles as directed by the Sugar Com-
pany and shall receive ten cents per ton for such piling.
4. The Sugar Company shall not be bound to accept diseased,
frozen, damaged, and improperly topped beets, and beets which
do not otherwise meet requirements hereof.
5. The weight of dirt delivered with beets shall be deducted in
the customary manner, and such deductions shall be conclusive.
6. The Sugar Company, on the fifteenth day of each month,
will pay $9.00 per ton for all beets delivered and received during
the preceding calendar month in accordance with the terms,
specifications and requirements of this contract, that shall test
over 15 per cent in sugar content. In addition to the aforemen-
tioned payment, the Sugar Company will pay the Grower his
proportion of one-half the increase in the price of sugar, if any,
above $7.45 per cwt., Seaboard Refining point, based on the
quantity of sugar sold at such increased basic price. The latter
payment to be computed and made when all the sugar manufac-
tured from the beet crop of 1918 has been sold.
7. The Growers shall have the privilege of selecting, at their
expense, a man of reliable character, satisfactory to The Sugar
Company, to check the tares and weights of the beets grown
under this contract, at the receiving stations where such beets
may be delivered.
8. The Sugar Company, at its pleasure, during the growing,
harvesting and delivery of the beets, shall have the privilege
and shall be accorded the opportunity, by the Grower, of sam-
Contracts for Raising Beets 97
pling the beets, in order to ascertain the quality thereof, by polar-
ization and analysis. It is agreed that the polarization and analy-
sis by the Sugar Company shall be accepted as conclusive.
9. This agreement shall bind both the Grower and his legal
representatives, and the Sugar Company and its successors, and
shall not be transferable by the Grower without the written con-
sent of the Sugar Company, its successors and assigns.
SUGAR COMPANY,
By
Witness: Agent.
Grower.
P. O. Address
The following contract provides for a sliding scale of
prices based on the sugar-content of the beets.
ORIGINAL
MEMORANDUM OP AGREEMENT
Between
Grower
and
Sugar Company
(Locality)
1. THE GROWER agrees to prepare the land for, plant,
block, thin, cultivate, irrigate, harvest, and deliver during the
season 191 , in compliance with the directions of
SUGAR COMPANY, hereinafter called THE COMPANY, as
may be given from time to time, acres of sugar-
beets on the following described lands, to-wit :
quarter-section, ..... Township, .... Range,
98 The Sugar-Beet in America
County, (State) ; but in no event shall
THE COMPANY be held liable in damages for any failure or
partial failure of crop or any injury or damage to beets.
2. That the seed used shall be only that furnished by THE
COMPANY, for which the grower shall pay ten cents (10^) per
pound, and twelve (12) pounds per acre shall be planted, the
same to be paid for out of the first beets delivered. Seed-bed
must be approved by the duly authorized agents or field men of
THE COMPANY, before the seed is planted.
3. THE GROWER agrees that all beets grown by him will
be harvested and delivered to THE COMPANY as directed, at
the factory, or in cars at designated receiving stations of THE
COMPANY, properly topped at base of bottom leaf, and that
knives will not be used for lifting beets ; but hooks may be used,
provided they are properly driven into the top of the crown of the
beet only. THE GROWER further agrees that all beets grown
and delivered by him shall be free from dirt, stones, trash, and
foreign substance liable to interfere with the work at the factory,
and shall be subject to proper deductions for tare, and that he will
protect the beets from sun or frost after removal from the ground.
THE COMPANY has the option of rejecting any diseased,
frozen or damaged beets, beets of less than twelve per cent (12%)
sugar or less than eighty per cent (80%) purity, or beets that are
not suitable for the manufacture of sugar. It being agreed and
understood that THE COMPANY shall not be obliged to re-
ceive any beets prior to October 8th containing less than fifteen
per cent (15%) sugar. It also being understood that THE
COMPANY will commence receiving the crop as soon as the
beets are thoroughly matured.
4. In the event that any portion of the beets grown under this
contract (except that portion of the crop which is to be siloed as
herein provided) shall not by the 8th day of October of said year
be ordered delivered by THE COMPANY, then in such case it
shall be the duty of THE GROWER to promptly commence and
proceed with the harvesting and delivery of such beets as come
within the contract requirements after the said 8th day of October
without further notice from THE COMPANY, and to fully
complete delivery of all of said beets on or before the first day of
December of said year.
5. THE GROWER agrees to silo, if so directed in writing by
THE COMPANY prior to harvest, any portion of the tonnage
Contracts for Raising Beets 99
produced on the above contracted acreage not to exceed twenty-
five per cent (25%) of the entire crop grown hereunder.
6. Beets delivered and accepted will be paid for by THE
COMPANY, as foUows :
$8.375 per ton for beets testing not less than 12 per cent
sugar and under 14 per cent
$8.50 per ton for beets testing not less than 14 per cent
sugar and under 14.5 per cent
$8.625 per ton for beets testing not less than 14.5 per cent
sugar and under 15 per cent
$8.75 per ton for beets testing not less than 15 per cent
sugar and under 15.5 per cent
$8.875 per ton for beets testing not less than 15.5 per cent
sugar and under 16 per cent
$9.00 per ton for beets testing not less than 16 per cent
sugar and under 16.5 per cent
$9.125 per ton for beets testing not less than 16.5 per cent
sugar and under 17 per cent
$9.25 per ton for beets testing not less than 17 per cent
sugar and under 17.5 per cent
$9.375 per ton for beets testing not less than 17.5 per cent
sugar and under 18 per cent
$9.50 per ton for beets testing not less than 18 per cent
sugar and under 18.5 per cent
$9.625 per ton for beets testing not less than 18.5 per cent
sugar and under 19 per cent
$9.75 per ton for beets testing not less than 19 per cent
sugar and under 19.5 per cent
And twelve and one-half cents (12^) per ton additional for
each one-half per cent above 19.5 per cent.
For all beets siloed one dollar ($1.00) per ton extra will be paid.
It being distinctly understood, however, that none of such siloed
beets shall be delivered until THE COMPANY sends written
instructions to THE GROWER to make delivery of "siloed
beets" ; also that all of said siloed beets shall be ordered and de-
livered prior to January 31st.
Payment to be made the 15th of each month for beets de-
livered and received during the previous calendar month.
7. THE GROWER shall have the privilege of selecting, at
his expense, a man of reliable character, satisfactory to THE
100 The Sugar- Beet in America
COMPANY, to check the tares and weights of the beets grown
under this contract, at the receiving stations where such beets
may be delivered, and to check in the tareroom laboratory the
polarization of his beets.
8. It is further agreed in the event of a shortage of cars after
October 8th, causing serious delay to THE GROWER, said
GROWER shall be allowed to fork his beets into piles, providing
he piles them eight (8) feet high, under the direction of THE
COMPANY, at the receiving stations where large elevated dumps
are established ; and no loose dirt shall be removed from the
wagon box until after having been weighed back.
9. To ascertain the quality of said beets, THE COMPANY
shall have the privilege at various times during the growing and
harvesting season of causing the beets to be sampled and polar-
ized.
10. THE GROWER agrees not to assign this contract with-
out written consent of THE COMPANY.
The Silo clause of this GROWER
contract will not be enforced . . SUGAR COMPANY
for the year 1918 : By
(Place) 191 .
The following is a contract between the sugar company
and laborers it secures for the farmers.
LABOR AGREEMENT
IT IS HEREBY AGREED Between Mr of
No Street, City of , and The
Sugar Company of
That the said laborer and associates agree to take
care of acres of sugar-beets; for certain farmers
who have contracted with The Sugar Company to grow beets ;
the labor to consist of blocking and thinning, once hoeing, and
pulling, and topping. Sufficient number of men are to be fur-
nished to do the work in a careful and efficient manner that shall
be satisfactory to the farmer.
The Sugar Company agrees that the farmer will make settle-
ment with the laborers when each part of the work is done, as
follows :
Contracts for Raising Bseis 101
S 12.00 per acre when the thinning and hoeing is completed.
$10.00 per acre when the pulling and topping is done.
It is also agreed that The Sugar Company is to furnish for the
farmer a comfortable home in which the laborer is to live, and
transportation from his present city to the house in which he is to
live.
As a guarantee of the performance of the above contract it is
agreed that The Sugar Company is to retain for the farmer two
dollars per acre from the first settlement until the work is com-
pleted in the fall.
It is further agreed that on arrival at the place of labor, a con-
tract will be entered into between the laborer and the farmer
whose beets he is to care for, which shall supersede and cancel
this agreement but will describe more specifically the work to be
done.
THE SUGAR COMPANY
Per
Dated 191 .
Laborer.
A form of labor contract between the sugar company
and the farmer is given below.
ORIGINAL
GROWERS' APPLICATION AND AGREEMENT FOR
BEET WORKERS, 1918
SUGAR COMPANY,
I, , of County of . . . . ,
State of . . . . , hereby make application to the ....
Sugar Company (hereinafter called the company), for hand
laborers to care for acres of sugar-beets, planted
in rows inches apart, to be grown by me for said
Sugar Company on Section , Township . . .
. . County , State of . . . . , during the
season beginning with the spring of 1918 ; the cost of such labor
V02 Tht> Sugar- Beet in America
to be Twenty-three Dollars ($23.00) per acre for beets planted
in rows Eighteen (18) to Twenty-two (22) inches apart inclu-
sive; Twenty-one Dollars ($21.00) per acre for beets planted in
rows Twenty-four (24) to Twenty-six (26) inches apart inclusive ;
and Nineteen Dollars ($19.00) per acre for beets planted in rows
Twenty-eight (28) inches apart.
I hereby agree that, in consideration of the said Company
securing beet workers for me, and furnishing them with railroad
transportation, I will sign a contract with such beet workers, at
prices above mentioned.
I further agree to transfer the laborers from the railroad
station to and from the land to be worked for me, or to pay the
cost of such transfer, and to furnish such laborers with a suitable
dwelling place and water, and to haul fuel while they are em-
ployed under this agreement.
In case the Sugar Company furnishes a house for the laborers,
I agree to pay for rent of said house fifty cents (50 i) for each acre
of my beets worked by said laborers.
I further agree that for all money advances made by the said
company, to care for the growing crop under the terms of this
agreement, I will give to the said company my promissory note,
bearing seven per cent annual interest, payable November 15,
after date of note.
It is understood that the said company will undertake to
furnish the best laborers obtainable, but I will not hold the said
company responsible for the efficiency of said laborers or failure
to secure same.
Dated 191 .
(Signed)
Grower.
Witness:
The phraseology of any of these contracts might be
varied, but they illustrate the type of agreements en-
tered into in the production of sugar-beets.
CHAPTER VIII
PREPARATION OF SEED-BED AND PLANTING
THE seed-bed is the home of the young plant. If that
home is favorable, the plant gets a good start and has a
fair chance to make a satisfactory growth; if it is un-
favorable, the plant is doomed. No matter how good the
seed or what provisions are made for caring for the crop
later on in its life, a satisfactory yield cannot be obtained
unless the plant has a favorable condition in which to
begin its life and to grow during the period when it is tender.
In outlining methods of obtaining a good seed-bed, it
must be remembered that conditions differ widely and
that no practice will fit all conditions. The object is to
make the soil a suitable home for the young plant. The
practice that will produce this result in any locality is the
one to use. In discussing the question for all conditions,
only general suggestions can be offered ; the details must
be worked out locally.
EFFECT OF PREVIOUS CROP
The methods of preparing land for sugar-beets cannot
be discussed independently of the previous crop. If a sod
crop is followed by beets, every effort must be made to
103
104 The Sugar-Beet in America
kill the sod plant and to promote the decay of roots and
crowns. Considerable attention must also be given to
stirring the land deeply in order that the beet root may
have a mellow soil in which to grow. If potatoes or a
root crop have been grown on the land, the soil will al-
ready be loosened to considerable depth and there will be
no coarse plant residues to care for. Under these con-
ditions, the preparation of a seed-bed for beets is com-
paratively simple. In planning a rotation in which sugar-
beets are included, this question should be given due
consideration, particularly in arranging the order in which
the crops should follow each other. This is discussed
more fully in Chapter VI.
REASONS FOR PLOWING
The most fundamental operation in the preparation
of the seed-bed is plowing. One of the distinguishing
features between the agriculture of the savage and that
of civilized man is the difference in plowing: the one
merely scratches the land sufficiently to get the seed
planted ; the other stirs and pulverizes the entire surface
layer of soil. In this process many desirable results are
obtained : the structure, or tilth, of the soil is improved ;
air is better able to penetrate to the roots; undesirable
plants and weeds are killed ; manure, stubble, and other
plant residues are covered and decay is thereby hastened ;
and moisture is conserved.
Every plant requires for its best growth that looseness
of soil which permits a free passage of air and an easy
penetration of roots. This is particularly true of sugar-
Preparation of Seed-Bed and Planting - 105
beets. When left undisturbed for a number of years, the
soil becomes compact and is not in the best condition for
crop growth. It is necessary, therefore, to loosen it by
the use of some tillage implement, preferably the plow.
In cultivating the soil to improve tilth, attention must
be given to the amount of moisture present. A soil
plowed when too wet will become more compact than it
was before plowing.
Plowing should mean more than the mere turning over
of the soil. If plowing is well done, every clod will be
shattered and every particle have its relation to every
other particle changed through the shearing action that
should take place when the plowed slice is turned over.
As the soil falls into the furrow, it should be a granular
mellow mass of loose particles. The kind of plow that
will best produce this condition varies with each soil.
Sand or loam may be made mellow with any kind of plow,
but a heavy clay without organic matter can be given a
good tilth only when every condition is favorable.
Organic matter accumulates at the surface of any soil
that is cropped. In the orchard, leaves fall ; in the grain
field, stubble is left after harvest ; and in meadows that
are to be followed by another crop, a sod must be turned
under. These plant residues cannot decompose readily if left
at the surface ; they need to be turned under and mixed with
the soil in order to decay and give up their plant-foods as
well as to assist in making available the mineral matter
of the soil. Farm manure is constantly being applied
to the land, and must be covered and mixed with the soil
if it is to do the most good. Practically all of this cover-
ing must be done with some kind of plow, although the
106 The Sugar-Beet in America
disk harrow finds occasional use where the land has been
plowed recently.
One of the most important reasons for cultivating the
soil is to conserve moisture. Even in regions of abundant
rainfall it is often necessary to save soil moisture, and in
arid regions the very life of agriculture depends on con-
serving the scant supply of water. If the soil is compact
and hard, rain water will run off the surface rather than
penetrate the soil where plants can use it. The soil must,
therefore, be loosened in order that it may absorb moisture.
The water that is in the soil moves from particle to particle,
and if the surface particles are pressed tightly together
the water will rise to the surface where it is lost by evapora-
tion. This loss can be prevented by stirring the surface
and forming a loose, dry mulch of earth which retards
the escape of moisture.
TIME OF PLOWING
Many factors must be considered in determining the
best time to plow, such as the amount of moisture in the
soil, the rush of other work, the climatic conditions during
the winter, the time of harvesting the preceding crop,
and the time at which the land is to be seeded. As a
rule, it pays to plow for sugar-beets in the fall rather than
in the spring. This is probably more true for this crop
than for any other, although fall-plowing is usually con-
sidered good for practically all crops ; there are, however,
a few conditions in which spring plowing seems to give
better results.
Fall plowing is desirable because it allows the turning
Preparation of Seed-Bed and Planting 107
up and mellowing of deep soil which winter-freezing will
make congenial to crops; it secures a more complete
decomposition of organic matter; it breaks up a cloddy
and compact condition; it allows more of the winter
rainfall to be stored ; it allows time to establish capillary
connection between the plowed portion and the subsoil;
it makes possible the earlier use of sod land for the beet
crop ; it exposes and kills many insects and fungous pests ;
and by giving better conditions for decay it allows the
best use to be made of manure applied in the fall.
The mellowing frosts of winter bring about changes in
the soil that would require a great amount of labor to
accomplish. This is especially true on heavy land that
is made friable only with great difficulty.
One decided advantage of fall plowing in regions having
heavy winter and spring rains is that the beet crop can
be planted much earlier with fall than with spring plow-
ing. If the farmer has to wait in the spring till the land
is well dried before plowing, the season is far advanced
before seed can be planted. Harrowing should follow
plowing, after which enough time should elapse for the
soil to settle before seed is planted. By this time the
surface soil is dry and the seeds have to be planted
deep in order to obtain the moisture necessary for ger-
mination.
In many regions it is the custom to plow beet land
shallow in the spring after fall plowing. This has the
advantage of killing weeds that come up early in the
spring, and it leaves a mulch on the surface. It has the
disadvantage of drying out the surface; it also entails
considerable extra expense. Farmers in many of the
108 The Sugar-Beet in America
leading sugar-beet areas find that spring plowing can well
be dispensed with, particularly on heavy soils.
In many regions it has been found that heavy land
planted to beets or potatoes the previous year may be
put in good shape without plowing, by giving the surface
a thorough treatment in the spring. This is done by
"taking 1 a fine tooth harrow, riding it and running it as
deeply as possible, following with a float which will form
a fine mulch on top and prevent crusting. Then take a
spring-tooth harrow and run it as deeply as possible the
same way the rows of beets are to run at least three or
four inches deep. Next follow immediately with a fine
tooth harrow in order to keep the land worked down and
retain the moisture and not allow clods to form. The
same process should be repeated crosswise, running the
spring tooth an inch or two deeper if possible. Go over
it again with a roller or leveler to get the surface firm
enough for planting." While this method seems to
eliminate plowing, it does not in reality do so, since the
digging of the potatoes or beets is practically equivalent
to a fall plowing and the treatment is not recommended
except for heavy land that has raised these crops.
DEPTH OF PLOWING
The proper depth of plowing has always been a topic
of discussion among farmers. One will say that the
deeper the plowing the better; another will affirm that
shallow plowing is best. It may be that neither has
1 Austin, Mark, Utah Farmer, Vol. 12, No. 31, Mar. 3, 1917.
PLATE VIII. — Above, (Photo by J. A. Brock) culti-packer preparing
land for sugar-beets in Colorado ; center, (Photo by J. A. Brock) prep-
aration of land for beets with a tractor, Colorado; below, (Photo by T.
H. Summers) the spring-tooth harrow is an excellent implement to
prepare land for sugar-beets.
Preparation of Seed-Bed and Planting 109
made any careful investigations in which costs have been
figured. All seem agreed that for beets deep plowing is
desirable, since the expanding roots require a soil that
may be moved readily; but just what deep plowing is
seems to be entirely a matter of local judgment. In one
place twelve inches would be called deep plowing; in
another locality nothing less than eighteen or twenty
inches would be so designated.
Ordinarily where mechanical traction power is available,
the land is plowed deeper than where horse power is de-
pended on. In some sections an attempt is made to plow
all beet land twenty to twenty-four inches deep. Other
sugar-beet areas find half this depth ample. The nature
of the soil and other local conditions are doubtless im-
portant considerations in this connection. The length
of time the land has been cultivated must also be taken
into consideration. It would most likely be unwise to
plow land twenty inches deep when it had previously
been plowed only eight inches. The amount of raw soil
thus turned up would probably render the land almost
wholly unproductive the first year, particularly if the
deeper soil were heavy and compact.
The use of the subsoil plow was highly recommended
for sugar-beets in the early days of the industry in America,
but now there is little said of it. In some areas it doubt-
less pays to subsoil, but usually subsoiling cannot be recom-
mended as a regular practice in connection with plowing.
In digging beets the land is in reality subsoiled; this is
ordinarily all that is necessary. In some soils that have
never produced beets, a subsoiling would probably be
beneficial, but it certainly is not necessary to success in
110 The Sugar-Beet in America
raising beets and it is an expense that should, therefore,
be eliminated.
Conditions in each locality must determine what depth
land should be plowed, but for a great part of the sugar-
beet area a thorough plowing to a depth of twelve to
fifteen inches is ample. When experience demonstrates
that deeper plowing will pay for the extra expense it en-
tails, greater depth should be practiced, but the extra
cost should always be considered.
FINAL PREPARATION
(Plates VIII, IX)
Much depends on the final preparation of the land for
planting. Good plowing counts for little if it is not fol-
lowed by tillage methods that put the seed-bed in a con-
dition that will favor a quick germination of the seed
and a rapid growth of the young plant. This means that
the top few inches must be fine and mellow and at the
same time firm and moist. This preparation should be
done early in order to make possible early seeding.
If the land is too dry in the spring to respond well to
tillage, it may be irrigated, but this irrigation must be
given early. Usually irrigation will not be required be-
fore seeding, but when necessary it should be given before
the seed-bed is finally prepared, since it enables the farmer
to make a much finer, more moist, and better bed for the
germinating seed.
Definite directions cannot be given regarding the im-
plement to use. The tool that does the best work is the
one to employ. The nature of the soil will determine
PLATE IX. — Above, any crust must be broken before the land is ready
for beets ; below, a good stand of beets just ready for thinning.
Preparation of Seed-Bed and Planting 111
whether disk harrow, spring-tooth harrow, spike-tooth
harrow, float, or roller should be used. Often a combina-
tion of several of these implements is required to secure
satisfactory results.
It must be remembered that the young beet seedling
is extremely tender, and too much care cannot be given
to prepare the land for its initial growth. Thorough
disking, harrowing, and floating are the successive steps
usually followed. The float may often be followed to
advantage by some implement to firm the soil just below
the surface, for sugar-beet seed is not planted deep. A
number of good implements are available for this firming.
Finally, a light harrowing makes a thin surface mulch
and kills the weeds that are newly germinated. The
weed problem must be kept definitely in mind in this final
preparation, because if all the weeds are not killed about
the time the beet seed is planted, they will get ahead of
the beets and cause much trouble. Weeds are most easily
killed just when they are starting. The land cannot be
harrowed after the beets are planted; and by the time
they are high enough to cultivate, the weeds may have
a good start. ,
Rolling the land is often practiced to make the surface
smooth and to break clods. Compacting the surface soil
with the roller increases capillary movement toward the
surface, thereby hastening the loss of moisture. The fact
that the soil seems more moist after a roller is used often
misleads farmers into thinking they are actually saving
water. Probably the farmer is, under certain conditions,
justified in sacrificing part of the moisture in the soil in
order to secure a better germination than is likely to follow
112 The Sugar-Beet in America
compacting the soil around small seeds. If the land were
compact in its original unplowed condition, the loss of
moisture would result without the benefits of placing the
seed in close contact with a firm soil.
THE SEED
With no crop is greater care necessary to secure good
seed than with beets. It is so highly important that the
sugar companies have taken the matter in hand and
furnish seed to all farmers contracting to raise beets for
them. Beet seed to be good must have the proper breed-
ing; its sugar-producing quality must be up to the
standard by actual demonstration. This is a matter
that cannot be guessed at by the seed grower; he must
know just what the seed will do. The seed must be up
to standard in power to germinate, since poor germination
means a poor stand and this is a serious matter for the
sugar-beet grower. The seed should have a bright ap-
pearance ; if it is dark colored, it may have been wet and
the germinating power thereby reduced.
A number of treatments to improve germination have
been tried with varying success. Treatment with sulfuric
acid increases germination, but the trouble and expense
of this treatment will probably prevent its general use.
Scarifying the seed with a special machine hastens the
germination of hard seeds, but this is not widely practiced.
For the present, the farmer's effort should be centered
on securing good seed instead of trying to revive poor
seed by special treatment. A fuller discussion of the
seed question is given in Chapter XV.
Preparation of Seed-Bed and Planting 113
TIME OF SEEDING
The date of planting seed varies with the region and
with the season. In the Mississippi Valley and the East,
the time of planting is between April 1. and June 1. In
Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, it is two
or three weeks earlier. Adams 1 gives the time for plant-
ing in California as follows :
Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys January 15 to March 15
Southern California October 1 to April 1
Central Coast Counties February 1 to June 1
In most regions the season of planting is late March,
April, and early May. Seeding time should not be de-
termined by the calendar, but by soil and weather con-
ditions. The soil should be warm and moist and the
period 9f severe frosts should be past.
Early seeding has many advantages and some draw-
backs. If the seed is planted early and for any reason
the stand is poor, there is still time to re-seed. There is
also the advantage that the young plant can use the early
spring moisture to germinate and get up before hot weather
causes a crust to form. If seeding is done too early, there
is danger of the seed remaining in the cold soil so long
that it rots before there is sufficient heat to germinate.
In some localities the time of planting is determined
by seasonal winds which dry the land and cause it to
crust or in other ways injure the newly planted seed or
the seedling. Dates of planting must be chosen so that
the seedlings will not be at a critical stage during the
season when regular unfavorable winds occur.
1 Adams, R. L., Calif. Exp. Sta., Cir. No. 160. 1917.
i
114
The Sugar-Beet in America
METHOD OF PLANTING
(Plate X; Fig. 10)
The distance between rows varies from eighteen to
thirty inches; twenty inches is the ordinary distance.
If land is poor or if water is scarce, the beets must be
planted farther apart or they do not continue a vigorous
FIG. 10. — Four-row beet seeder. Rear view.
growth throughout the season. Under any conditions
the rows must be far enough apart to permit horse-drawn
cultivators to go between them. In each locality the
distance is usually uniform in order to allow an inter-
change of machinery. Tillage implements are made to
cultivate a number of rows at a time ; consequently, the
spacing should be regular.
The amount of seed planted varies from about twelve
PLATE X. — Above, (Courtesy Truman G. Palmer) planting sugar-
beets, Colorado; the extending arms are used as markers; center,
(Courtesy Union Sugar Co.) two engines with connecting cables pull-
ing machinery in beet fields, California ; below, (Courtesy Facts About
Sugar) cultivating and hoeing sugar-beets, Iowa.
Preparation of Seed-Bed and Planting 115
to twenty pounds to the acre. More seed is required
if the land is not in a condition to hasten germination.
The size of seed also affects the amount to be used. It
is poor economy to save unnecessarily on beet seed, since
a good stand is so indispensable to a good yield. For
the average soil that has been well prepared, about fifteen
pounds of average seed to the acre gives excellent results.
The depth of planting is very important. It is easy
to plant the seed too deep and thereby to reduce its vitality.
The seed of the sugar-beet has little food stored in it. If
it is planted deeply, this reserve is used up before the
plant is able to manufacture its own food. The depth of
moisture necessary to germinate the seed must also be
considered. Seed planted in dry soil will not germinate,
and it is better to have a plant that is weak due to deep
planting than to obtain no plant at all, because of plant-
ing in dry soil. Usually seed is planted between three-
fourths of an inch and one and a half inches deep. If the
condition of the soil permits, shallow planting is to be
preferred. This is particularly true on heavy land that
is likely to crust.
Many types of beet drills are on the market. No type
is best for all kinds of soils. In some cases the seed is
planted one seed in a place and scattered regularly along
the row. In some sections a type of drill that drops the
seed in hills to facilitate thinning is finding favor.
THE STAND
A good stand of beets is so important that every means
should be used to secure it. If, for any reason, the first
116 The Sugar-Beet in America
seeding does not produce a uniform stand, it is often
desirable to re-seed. It may be that the crop will have
to be planted several times. One of the chief causes of a
poor stand is a crust which forms at the surface after the
seed is planted and before it comes up. If the seeding is
light, the single plants may have difficulty pushing
through, whereas a heavier seeding would place several
plants near each other and together they could break
through the crust.
Many kinds of mechanical devices are used to break
the crust. The roller is often employed. A very effective
implement consists of special wheels running directly
over the rows. These have spike points or knives which
penetrate the crust sufficiently to enable the tender
plants to come through without disturbing the soil enough
to injure the seedling.
CHAPTER IX
CULTURAL METHODS
THE acre-yields of sugar-beets are lower in America than
in the European countries, largely because cultural methods
here are not so thorough. The higher price of hand labor,
together with the availability of land, has made the
American farmer less inclined to give to his farming opera-
tions the painstaking care necessary for high yields. This
condition made him slow to take up beet-raising in the
first place, and it makes him remain a little behind the
European farmer in the care he gives to the crop. In
regions in which sugar-beets have been raised longest,
farmers are learning that they are well repaid for the
extra work they give to the beet crop. They are finding
that for every dollar spent on better culture, they may
obtain several dollars in return. The operations deserv-
ing most attention in this connection are thinning and
cultivation. The practices are suggested in Plate X, and
in the test figures.
THINNING
(Plate XI)
Preparation for thinning.
The first requisite to good thinning is an even stand
of beets. If this can be secured from the first seeding, so
117
118 The Sugar-Beet in America
much the better ; but if not, re-seeding should be resorted
to. A satisfactory crop cannot be raised if only half the
beets come up. In some soils no treatment is necessary
from the time the seed is planted till the beets are ready
to thin. In some sections, however, it is advisable to
roll the land soon after the beets come up and before they
are thinned. Some disagreement exists as to the value
of this rolling, but many farmers believe it to be of de-
cided benefit on some soils.
The practice of beginning cultivation as soon as the
beets are up enough to show the rows has many advantages.
It helps to conserve the moisture ; it keeps in check weeds
that come up so abundantly at this season of the year;
it gives to the rapidly-growing young plants the supply
of air needed by their roots ; and it facilitates thinning.
Blocking and thinning.
No operation in the entire process of beet-raising is
more important than thinning. Losses resulting from
poor thinning are not easily apparent ; for this reason the
danger is greater. At the time the beets are thinned, the
farmer is rushed with other work, and since this operation
is very slow and tedious, the tendency is to hurry over it.
If each farmer could perform his own work, sufficient care
would probably be taken, but most thinning is done by
contract labor or by children, and as a result it is usually
far from perfect.
When the work is contracted, at least part of the pay
should be based on the acre-yield of the crop instead of
entirely on the area thinned. When a flat rate for an acre
is paid, it is 'difficult to secure satisfactory work. When
PLATE XI. — Above, thinning sugar-beets, Utah (Photo by U. S.
Dept. of Agr.) ; below, cultivating young beets ; continual cultivation is
necessary for the best growth of beets.
Cultural Methods 119
children are employed, careful supervision is necessary,
since they do not realize the difference in yield resulting
from careful and slovenly work.
Beets should be thinned about the time they have four
leaves. Before this time, it is impossible to tell which
will be the strong plants. Later, the shock to the plants
that are left is so great that they do not easily recover.
Much more damage is done by leaving beets too long be-
fore thinning than by thinning them too early. When
the farmer has a large acreage, he must begin a little too
early and continue a little too long in order to thin most
of the plants when they are the proper size. Planting on
two or three dates is necessary with large acreages in order
to make thinning at the proper time possible.
The distance apart to leave plants depends on a number
of conditions. If the land is rich, the beets may be closer
together than if it is poor. If the season is short, they
may also be left closer in order to hasten an early maturity.
Under some conditions, the highest yield and sugar-con-
tent are obtained where the beets have from 144 to 160
square inches of surface to the plant. With the rows
twenty inches apart, the plants would be about eight
inches apart in the rows. This would give 39,200 plants
to the acre. If the beets weighed one pound each, a
perfect stand would give a yield of 19.6 tons to the acre.
In some places the beets are left as much as eighteen
inches apart, but so great a distance usually results in a
decreased yield. In a few places where the beets grow
exceptionally large, this distance may be justifiable.
When the beets are close together the yield may be
higher, but the extra work of handling the smaller beets
120 The Sugar-Beet in America
often makes the farmer satisfied with the lower yield.
The whole question of distance of spacing is so much de-
pendent on local conditions that the farmer is safer in
following local practice than any general advice. It is
probable that the distance is more often too great than
too small, since in thinning more ground can be covered
if the beets are far apart and the tendency is to stretch
ten inches to twelve or fourteen. Under average con-
ditions, from ten to twelve inches is about the correct
distance.
After deciding on the time to thin and the distance be-
tween beets in the row, the next thing is a sharp hoe with
which to do the blocking. This is accomplished by cutting
out all plants in the row except bunches that are left as
far apart as the beets are to grow. From these bunches
all plants but one are removed. In blocking the beets,
it is well to lay out a strip of land containing sixteen to
twenty rows and proceed much as in plowing the land
so as to leave a back furrow with soil hoed from the fur-
row as seldom as possible. Later in cultivating the rows
with the back furrow, the soil and clods are thrown on the
young plants and may injure them. Expert blockers
with the right kind of hoe can make the proper width
with a single stroke.
Next comes the tedious process of thinning (Plate XI),
in which all the plants except one are removed from the
bunch. In every case the most vigorous plant in the bunch
should be left. Experiments have shown an appreciable
difference in yield where a comparison was made between
leaving the weak and the strong plants. If two beets
are left at a place, each interferes with the other, pro-
Cultural Methods 121
ducing two under-sized and undesirable beets at harvest
time.
Losses from poor thinning.
The United States Department of Agriculture,1 as a
result of three years' experiments carried on in Utah,
showed the importance of having a good stand. The
differences in treatment were hardly noticeable by a
casual observation, but were easily seen when actual
measurements were made. Although the beets were con-
siderably larger where the stands were thin, the extra size
did not nearly make up for the thin stand ; the correlation
between stand and yield was remarkably close. Poor
stands were almost entirely due to careless thinning,
spacing, hoeing, and cultivation. Leaving the beets in
pau-s had a bad effect on the yield. Planting deeper than
is customary resulted in more damping-off in the young
beets and consequently in a poorer stand.
The loss in stand before thinning was over 19 per cent,
that during thinning over 21 per cent, and the loss be-
tween thinning and harvest almost 7 per cent, or a total
of 47.55 per cent loss in stand, so that the average showed
only one beet to every 16.4 inches. Some farmers who
were able to maintain a stand averaged a beet to each
ten to twelve inches in the row. These farmers harvested
a crop not only larger in proportion to the better stand,
but the beets with a thicker stand averaged higher in
sugar. When the stand at harvest was 76.8 per cent
perfect, the yield was 30.5 tons to the acre ; when it was
1 Shaw, H. B., Dept. of Agr., Bui. No. 238. 1915. '
122
The Sugar-Beet in America
60.3 per cent perfect, 17.2 tons; and when but 29.6 per
cent perfect, 10.3 tons to the acre.
In addition to the losses in stand due to poor cultural
methods, there were losses caused by imperfect germination
which might be attributed to the following causes : poor
preparation of seed-bed, imperfect operation of seed drills,
late frosts, damping-off disease, blowing of light sandy
soils, flea-beetles, cutworms, and wireworms.
Losses due to delayed thinning are shown from the
following yields obtained in Germany :
TIME OF THINNING
YIELD — TONS
Loss AT $5 A TON
At proper time
15.0
$-
One week Inter
135
$ 7 50
Two weeks later ....
100
$2500
Three weeks later
7.0
$4000
HOEING
Two hoeings by hand are usually required; three are
sometimes necessary. This is the chief item of expense
after thinning and topping. Much depends on hoeing
at the proper time in order that weeds do not get started
and take the nourishment and moisture that are needed
by the young beet plant. It is likewise important that
the hoeing be thorough. This is much more important
for sugar-beets than for a crop like corn that grows rapidly
and soon shades the weeds. In the beet field it is the weeds
that do the shading. Hoeing is often contracted in con-
nection with thinning. This is very satisfactory since it
PLATE XII. — Above, (Courtesy Facts About Sugar) hoeing sugar-
beets, Michigan ; center, (Courtesy Union Sugar Co.) irrigating sugar-
beets, California ; below, ditch used to sub-irrigate beets ; this method
of irrigation is used rather extensively in parts of California and Utah.
Cultural Methods
123
gives opportunity to require a re-thinning when the work
was done carelessly the first time.
CULTIVATING
As previously stated, cultivation should begin as soon
as the rows can be seen and should be continued till the
FIG. 11. — Four-row beet cultivator with pivot axle and frame leveling
lever.
leaves become so large that they are injured by the cul-
tivator. Probably the most important single cultivation
is that given immediately after the beets are thinned.
If properly done, it enables the young plants to revive
better from the shock they receive when their companion
plants are removed and the soil is moved away from their
roots. Under ordinary conditions the cultivations will
124
The Sugar-Beet in America
be repeated about every ten days. This time may, how-
ever, be modified somewhat by rains or by irrigation.
WEEDING KMf E H° S.
FIG. 12. — Cultivator attachments to be used at different stages in the
growth of the beet.
Several good cultivators are on the market. These
provide a number of attachments, varying from the
"spider" to the weeding knife, to be used at different
stages in the growth of the crop and for different con-
Cultural Methods 125
ditions. Two-rowed and four-rowed cultivators are both
employed. The larger one is used almost exclusively for
the larger acreages. Plates XI and XII and Figs. 11
and 12 indicate some of the methods.
Specific directions as to just when and how to cultivate
are almost useless^ since practices vary so much with con-
ditions. The best method is the one that will most surely
accomplish the ends sought : the aerating of the soil, the
conservation of moisture, and the control of weeds.
Each one of these would be enough to justify frequent
cultivation; combined they make it imperative. Few
farmers cultivate too much; many cultivate too little.
A crop may be raised with very few cultivations, but
every time the soil is properly stirred the yield of beets
is increased. Just before the leaves cover the ground,
the final cultivation should be given and it should be
thorough but not deep.
CHAPTER X
IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE
THE sugar-beet plant responds readily to a favorable
moisture condition in the soil. It cannot be classed as
either drought-resistant or a water lover; it requires an
intermediate amount of moisture similar to that de-
manded by such crops as potatoes and the grains. The
amount of labor expended on a crop of beets is so great
that every effort should be made to maintain the most
favorable moisture-content in the soil in order that the
yield of the crop may justify the expense necessary to
raise it. The practical methods of affecting the soil
moisture are by irrigation water where the rainfall is not
sufficient, and by drainage on land that is too wet.
IRRIGATION
(Plates XII, XIII; Figs. 13-22)
Beets adapted to irrigation farming.
Most of the sugar-beets raised in America are produced
with the aid of irrigation water. Michigan is the only
important beet-producing state in the United States that
is not in the irrigated region. The beet-sugar industry
was started in the humid part of the country, but it made
no great success till it was carried to irrigated lands. The
126
Irrigation and Drainage
127
yield of beets is greater under irrigation than where water
is not supplied. This is probably because irrigation makes
possible the maintaining of a more desirable moisture-
FIG. 13. — Reservoir for irrigation water, and diversion dam.
content in the soil than can be relied on from the rainfall
alone.
Sugar-beet culture is adapted to intensive farming on ac-
count of the great amount of man-labor that must be spent
on each acre in thinning and harvesting. This condition
fits well into the small farms of the irrigated district.
Sources of irrigation water.
The most common and least expensive source of water
for irrigation is found in running streams. A suitable dam
is placed across the bed of the stream to turn water into
the canal which carries it to the land to be served. The
128 The Sugar-Beet in America
head of such a canal is sometimes many miles from the
farm ; at other times the land to be irrigated is along the
banks of the stream.
When irrigation water is secured directly from a river,
only part of the water can be used, since the irrigation
season occupies but a few months out of the year, whereas
the stream flows continuously, often having its greatest
flow when the water is not being utilized. In order to
make more water available, storage reservoirs are built.
These receive the water at times when it is not being used
and hold it until the irrigating season. As more land is
farmed and as water becomes less plentiful, increased
provision for storage is made.
The pumping of water for irrigation from wells and
ponds is increasing rapidly. The depth from which it
can be pumped economically for beets depends on the
expense of fuel, or power, and a number of other factors.
Many beets are raised with water pumped from a depth
of fifty feet ; and in some cases a part of the water used for
beets is pumped more than one hundred feet.
Measurement of water.
Irrigation water, as well as land and crops, should be
measured. In the past, guessing at the amount of water
used has been more common than making accurate meas-
urements. This has led to endless disputes and trouble
concerning water rights. In the future, those concerned
with the use of water will need to be familiar with methods
of making measurements and expressing quantities. This
will be especially true on sugar-beet farms where land and
water are usually high-priced.
Irrigation and Drainage 129
The two principal devices for measuring flowing water
are the weir and the current meter. With the former, a
measuring gate of known size is placed in the stream and
the height of water flowing over it determined. From
standard tables the discharge is found. When the current
meter is used, the velocity of the stream-flow is obtained,
together with its cross-section ; from these the amount of
water is calculated.
Of the many methods of expressing quantities of water,
the ones in most Common use are the second-foot and the
acre-foot. A second-foot represents one cubic foot of
water flowing each second. An acre-foot is the amount
of water required to cover an acre of land one foot deep,
that is, 43,560 cubic feet. A second-foot flowing for
twelve hours will flow almost exactly an acre-foot. If
a weir is placed in the ditch, it is very easy to compute
the depth of water applied at each irrigation.
Preparing land for irrigation.
Considerable care should be taken in preparing land
for irrigation. This often calls for a great expenditure
of money to make smooth a surface that is rough and to
give a uniform slope to the land ; but since a single level-
ing will serve for many years, the expenditure is usually
justified. Too often farmers, not wishing to spend so
much money during any one season, leave the land uneven
year after year, and as a result each crop is diminished.
It may be that the loss each year would not be sufficient
to pay for grading the land, but many years would not
be required to do so.
Losses result from an uneven soaking of the land in
130 The Sugar-Beet in America
which the beets on low places receive more water than
they need before those on the higher land have received
as much as they should have. Scalding of plants on the
lower spots, due to their being covered with water, is
not uncommon. Excessive slope to the land should be
avoided; more than five feet fall in one hundred will
result in considerable washing.
Methods of irrigating beets.
Although check and border irrigation is used in parts of
California and in a number of other sections to a less ex-
tent, most of the beets in the country are irrigated by the
furrow method. In a few sections sub-irrigation is prac-
ticed. The checks are usually rectangular in form and
not larger than an acre in extent; a half acre is better.
The checks near the head of the ditch are filled first and
the water is moved from one to the other in regular order.
The levees are seeded with the remainder of the field, but
the beets planted here have less moisture than the others.
Care must be exercised in irrigating by this method not
to scald or to drown the beets.
In furrowing out the beet field for furrow irrigation,
several implements are used. Each community has its
preference for some special implement. The main thing
is to be able to make a good, clean, smooth channel.
With the proper implement five to ten acres can be pre-
pared in a day by one man and team.
The permanent field laterals should be arranged so
as to allow the freest preparation and cultivation of the
fields without interference. By making the field laterals
conform to the contour of the land, the water may be
Irrigation and Drainage 131
distributed evenly through the furrows. On light soil
difficulty is likely to be experienced with the banks'
cutting, causing more water to run down one furrow than
another. When this difficulty occurs, some form of
permanent outlet may be provided to advantage. This
insures fairly even streams. In many places small lath
or galvanized iron tubes are put through the bank at the
head of each row. These are long enough to protrude a
little on both sides of the bank. Though these tubes are
often helpful, they are not without objections. In a
heavy soil devices of this kind usually are not required.
To run water the entire length of a long field is a mis-
take even where the slope of the land permits. On flat
fields, cross ditches usually should be not more than two
or three hundred feet apart ; even on sloping ground the
distance should rarely exceed five hundred feet. Waste
ditches at the bottom of the land should always be pro-
vided, in order that use may be made of all the water that
does not soak into the land. Allowing water to go to
waste where it does no one good, but causes injury, cannot
be condemned too strongly.
When sub-irrigation is practiced, water is allowed to stand
in deep ditches from which it soaks laterally till all the land
is moistened. This method can be used only where a rather
open surface soil covers a layer that prevents the water
from percolating rapidly. Where these conditions prevail,
sub-irrigation offers an ideal method of applying water.
Water requirements of beets. (Plate XII)
The amount of irrigation water required to produce a
maximum crop of beets varies with the sunshine, wind,
132 The Sugar-Beet in America
rainfall, type of soil, and a number of other factors. It
is impossible, therefore, to say that any given amount of
water should be applied.
Widtsoe l and his associates working at the Utah Sta-
tion found that on a gravelly loam from twenty to twenty-
seven inches of water gave higher yields than either more
or less. On a deep fertile soil there was an increase in
yield with increased application of water up to fifty inches.
There was a gain of nearly five tons to the acre when the
amount of water was increased from five to ten inches,
but when more than ten inches were given, the increase
in tonnage was slight. One acre of land with thirty
inches of water applied produced 20.28 tons, but when this
amount of water was spread over six acres of land it gave
a total yield of 82.68 tons.
Investigations carried out in Colorado by Mead 2 and
his co-workers, covering twenty fields irrigated in the
usual way, showed that the average amount of water
applied during the season was 15.6 inches. Most farmers
irrigated from one to four times with about 5.8 inches to
the application. The same investigations showed that
for Montana and Arizona the irrigation season lasted
from July 13 to August 17, during which time an average
of 25.8 inches of water was applied.
Roeding,3 from experiments in Colorado, concluded
that a higher yield to the acre was produced from about
11.3 inches of water applied in two irrigations than from
1 Widtsoe, J. A., et al,Utah Exp. Sta., Buls. Nos. 80, 116, 117,
118, 119, and 120.
2 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Off. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 158.
3 Roeding, F. W., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers1 Bui. No. 392.
Irrigation and Drainage 133
larger quantities in three or four irrigations. Irrigating
every row was found to be much superior to running the
water down alternate rows. Keeping the soil constantly
wet was also found to be detrimental to the crop. Beckett,1
in California, ascertained the yield of beets to increase
with the increase of water. This was, however, affected
by the time of planting.
The author 2 determined that when weekly irrigations
were given, one inch each week gave a higher yield than
when more was given. These results are shown in Fig. 50.
It will be noted from the variation in the water require-
ments of beets under different conditions that it is im-
possible to give a definite duty of water for beets under
all conditions.
Time to apply water.
No set rule can be given as to the time to irrigate beets,
except to say that when the land becomes too dry for
favorable growth, it is time to add water. This condition
will come at different times in the life of the plant under
different conditions.
McClatchie,3 working in Arizona, found that if seeding
was done during the cool part of the year, the crop needed
no irrigation for a month or so after planting, but if grown
during the time of warm weather of early fall, it needed
frequent watering till the weather became cool. If the
beets were planted in the warm spring weather, irrigation
was necessary during the entire period of growth. Where
1 Beckett, S. H., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bui. No. 10.
2 Harris, F. S., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 156.
« McClatchie, A. J., Ariz. Exp. Sta., Buls. Nos. 31 and 41.
134 The Sugar-Beet in America
the land was so dry as to necessitate irrigating the seed-
bed, it was judged better to irrigate before seeding than
immediately after.
Knight,1 in Nevada, concluded that "fall-plowed land
sometimes requires an application of water before seed-
ing/' but a poor stand generally results from an irrigation
immediately after planting. Where spring watering is
necessary, it should be done as early as possible, and when
the land is sufficiently dry, should be deeply cultivated.
He found that where beets received no irrigation until
they failed to revive at night from the wilting of the day,
an unsatisfactory crop resulted.
Knorr,2 at Scottsbluff in Nebraska, secured the best
results when beets were irrigated at such times as to
keep the plants in good growing condition from the
tune of thinning until about three weeks before harvest.
The irrigations should be in moderate amounts and the
soil never so dry that the plants suffer for lack of moisture.
He found it desirable to cultivate the beets to break the
crust by irrigating as soon as the soil became dry enough.
Sugar-beets receiving three irrigations during the growing
season gave a yield of 1.6 tons to the acre more if they
also received an irrigation the previous fall, than those
receiving water only in the growing season.
The author,3 in order to determine the critical periods
in the life of the sugar-beet for water, divided the life of
the plant into four stages of growth and added water in
1 Knight, C. S., Nev. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 75, and Ann. Rpt. for
1915.
2 Knorr, F., Neb. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 141.
» Harris, F. S., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 156.
Irrigation and Drainage 135
five-inch irrigations to these various stages both singly
and in various combinations. The results are shown in
Fig. 15, which gives the average yield of roots and tops
for the various treatments. The lowest yield was ob-
tained when the land was irrigated after the seed was
planted and before it came up. The yield with this treat-
ment was decidedly less than it was when no water was
given.
Comparing the various periods in which but one five-
inch irrigation was given, it will be seen that the third
period, when the beets averaged two inches in diameter,
was the most favorable ; the last period, when the beets
were nearly ripe, was the least favorable. The second
period was decidedly more favorable than the first. It
will be noted further that the yield of tops was greatest
with the very late irrigation. This means that the farmer
by looking at his beet field will doubtless be deceived into
thinking that the very late irrigation is increasing his
yield much more than it really is.
- Upon examining the plants receiving two, three, and
four irrigations, the greater value of irrigation water
during the third stage is clearly evident. The highest
yield was received where a total of fifteen inches was ap-
plied. It will be remembered that in the weekly irri-
gations a higher yield was obtained for 12.8 inches than
for 32 inches. It seems, therefore, that the total require-
ment of sugar-beets for irrigation water is not large, but
that the period of application is important.
The old ideas, that it is necessary to withhold water
until the beets suffer before giving the first irrigation and
that irrigation should be discontinued five or six weeks
•136
The Sugar-Beet in America
before harvest, have been proven to be false. If the plant
suffers for water either early in the season or late, the
yield of the crop will be reduced. The soil auger will be
found valuable in determining the moisture condition of
the subsoil, and will thereby assist the farmer in judging
when to irrigate.
Size of irrigation.
The amount of water to apply in each irrigation is a
subject of constant discussion among irrigators, who seem
unable to come to any definite agreement. This must
Fio. 14. — Effect of weekly irrigations on yield of beets and tops. Utah.
Irrigation and Drainage
137
vary with a number of factors, the most important of
which are the depth and texture of the soil. A light
irrigation of one to two inches would be ample for a
shallow sandy soil, whereas five or six inches might well
be given a deep loam or clay. It must be kept in mind
that the beet is a deep-rooted plant and that sufficient
moisture should be added to moisten the land as deeply
as the roots penetrate. Where the soil is suitable, a few
rather heavy irrigations have given better results than
many small ones. The reverse is true for potatoes.
Relation of irrigation to size, shape, and quality of beets.
(Figs. 14-21.)
Many tests have been made to determine the effect of
irrigation water on the nature of the beets. These tests
Effect of irrigation at different stages on yield of beets
tops. Utah.
138
The Sugar-Beet in America
Per&tnt Jucfose
Pzrctnt Purity
FIG. 16. — Effect of weekly irrigations on percentage of sucrose and
purity. Utah.
have given rather conflicting results. Observations by
Schneidewind * and others in Germany in the period from
1896 to 1906 showed that, although the yields are smaller,
root crops are richer in carbohydrates and protein in dry
years than in wet ones ; hence the net influence of weather
is not so great as it is ordinarily thought to be. High-
bred, resistant strains showed less variation in dry and
wet years than did common varieties.
1 Landw. Jahrb. 36 (1917), No. 4, pp. 474-581.
Irrigation and Drainage
139
Widtsoe and Stewart 1 found that although there was
only a slight increase in the percentage sucrose with the
water applied up to thirty-five inches, the percentage
of carbohydrates increased with increased quantities of
water used. Starch and cellulose, therefore, increased
with heavier applications. The application of fifty inches
in every case decreased the sucrose-content. The purity
was lowest with the smallest quantities of water and was
highest with intermediate applications up to twenty
. Percent Sucros*
Percent PurHy
FIG. 17. — Effect of irrigation at different stages on percentage of
sucrose and purity. Utah.
inches. The percentage of sucrose and the purity were
higher in October than in September.
Investigations made by the author2 on the effect of
irrigation water on the quality, size, and shape of beets
1 Widtsoe, J. A., and Stewart, R., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 120.
2 Harris, F. S., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui No. 156.
140
The Sugar-Beet in America
are illustrated in Figs. 16 and 17. In Fig. 16 both the
percentage sucrose and the purity are shown to be some-
I inch
wecKty
2,%/nchcs «5" inches l%.inchet
weekly
wee/f/y
wecKly
WetX/y
Total
I Overage weight of Beets E3 Overage length of^
FIG. 18. — Effect of weekly irrigations on average weight and length of
beets. Utah.
what higher in all the beets that were irrigated weekly
than in those receiving no irrigation. The highest sugar-
content was in the beets receiving two and one-half inches
of water each week. Figure 17 indicates the lowest
sugar-content, as well as the lowest purity, to have been
produced on the plat receiving water only when the beets
were approaching maturity. The highest sugar-content
Irrigation and Drainage
141
with a single irrigation was in the beets irrigated when
about two inches in diameter.
The average weight of beets under the different treat-
ments is given in Figs. 18 and 19, which show that the
size of beets follows closely the relationships that have
already been pointed out for yield. This was to be ex-
pected, since the stand on all plats was practically the
same in the spring and yield was largely, but not entirely,
an expression of size. The size of beets irrigated only at
the fourth state was proportionately smaller than the
yield would indicate.
The length of beets is also given in Figs. 18 and 19.
Figure 18 illustrates that when seven and one-half inches
of water were given each week, the length of beets averaged
slightly less than those receiving no water. The longest
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FIG. 19. — Effect of irrigation at different stages on average weight and
length of beets. Utah.
142
The Sugar-Beet in America
beets under the weekly irrigations were produced by one
inch of water each week, but the differences due to the
treatments were very slight.
• Percent Forked Beets
E3 Overage, height Tops
FIG. 20. — Effect of weekly irrigations on percentage of forked beets
and height of tops. Utah.
Figure 19 shows that five inches of water applied at any
period made the beets longer than those that were not
irrigated. The longest beets were those irrigated at the
first three stages. The very late irrigation had but little
effect in lengthening the beets.
There is a popular idea among farmers that the first
irrigation should be delayed just as long as possible in
PLATE XIII. — Above, tanks used in determining the amount of water
used by sugar-beets, Utah ; center, machine for digging drain ditches ;
much drained land is planted to sugar-beets : hdow, (a) topped too low,
(6) topped at proper place, (c) topped too high.
Irrigation and Drainage
143
order to induce the beets to go deeply into the soil. In
order to increase length, some farmers even allow their
beets positively to be injured by drought before applying
water. The results reported here, which represent many
thousands of careful measurements during five years,
show that this idea is wrong. In the ordinary good beet
soil that is well-drained, an irrigation does not decrease
the depth of penetration of beets; it rather assists them
to go deeper. Of course this does not contradict the well-
known fact that beets are likely to be shorter on a soil
that is water-logged, such as that in which a total of 96
inches of water was applied. In view of these experiments,
it seems folly to let beets suffer for water and be injured
permanently in order to make them root deeply.
The percentage of forked beets is shown, by Figs. 20
and 21, to bear no consistent relationship to the amount
I Pfrctar ftrKtd See to
Qttrtjc. A eight Top*
FIG. 21. — Effect of irrigation at different stages on percentage of forked
beets and height of tops. Utah.
144 The Sugar-Beet in America
of water or to the time of application. In the weekly
irrigation tests, the beets that were not irrigated had the
largest number of forked roots, whereas in the plats that
had water applied at different periods, the plat receiving
water only at the first stage had the least number of forked
roots. The greatest number was on plats irrigated early
and late. The differences, therefore, are not consistent and
the idea that any method of irrigation greatly increases
the tendency toward forkedness seems unwarranted.
An examination of Figs. 20 and 21 for the effect of
treatment on the height of tops reveals a rather close
relationship between this and the yield of tops, but not
the yield of beets, which has already been discussed in
connection with Figs. 14 and 15.
DRAINAGE
Reasons for drainage. (Fig. 22.)
Many millions of acres of land in the United States
contain so much water that crops cannot be raised suc-
cessfully. Part of this land is in permanent swamps;
some of it is dry during a part of the year, being water-
logged only at certain seasons. Much land, having a dry
surface appearance, contains ground-water so near that
roots cannot penetrate to any great depth. The chief
difficulty in the way of successful agriculture in all such
places is the surplus of water. The only way to make
this land suitable for crops is to drain it.
In most arid regions, much of the land contains a high
percentage of soluble salts. These often accumulate near
the surface in such large quantities that the growth of
Irrigation and Drainage 145
plants is prevented. Drainage, which gradually removes
these salts, is the only method of reclaiming alkali land
permanently. Much land that is
at present valueless on account of
its high alkali-content would be
of excellent quality were its excess
salts removed. In fact, some of
the highest yields of sugar-beets
are obtained on land thus re-
claimed.
Effects of drainage.
The drainage of wet land im-
proves it in many indirect, as well FIG. 22. — Drainage
as direct, ways. Lowering the trench dug with a machine.
/ It is ready for the tile.
water-table gives plants a larger
zone from which their roots can draw plant-food and
moisture. This lessens the need of fertilizers and the
susceptibility to drought. The increased aeration of the
soil resulting from drainage promotes the growth of
desirable organisms, increases favorable chemical action,
and makes the soil a much more desirable home for
plants. It warms the soil earlier in the spring, thereby
increasing the length of the growing season of crops.
Drainage improves the sanitary conditions of a region
by drying the breeding places of disease germs and dis-
ease-carrying insects. It lessens the winter-killing of
crops by reducing heaving of the soil, and it decidedly
improves structure and tilth. All of these benefits work-
ing together result in a good net profit in almost every
case in which drainage is properly done. It is a common
L
146 The Sugar-Beet in America
experience that when twelve or fifteen dollars are spent
in drainage, the value of the land is increased from twenty-
five to fifty or more dollars.
Kinds of drains.
Any one method of drainage is not suitable for all con-
ditions, nor is it always practicable to employ the method
that might seem best. The entire set of conditions must
be taken into consideration before deciding just how to
drain a piece of land. Open ditches are probably the
cheapest method of carrying away the water. They are
used to advantage in draining ponds and other surface
accumulations. The chief advantages of the open drain
are : (1) the cheapness with which it can be constructed,
and (2) the ease with which it can be cleaned. Some
disadvantages are that it renders waste the land occupied
and cuts the land area into small fields that are difficult
to get at. The open ditches become filled with falling
earth and weeds, and are a constant source of danger to
farm animals.
Some form of covered drain is usually preferable for
ordinary purposes. With the covered drain, a trench
is dug and some material that will allow water to pass
through is placed in the bottom. This is covered later
with earth. Some of the materials used for such drains
are rocks, brush, lumber, clay tile, and cement tile. The
last two are by far the most common. Where clay tile
can be secured, it is recommended under almost all con-
ditions, especially for land high in alkali.
Irrigation and Drainage 147
Installing the drainage system.
The first step in draining land is to lay out the system.
Some kind of instrument for getting levels must be used
to determine the contours and to decide where to place
the drain lines. A level is also necessary to find the
proper depth for the trenches. After the system is laid
out, the ditches are dug either by hand or by machinery.
In early days they were practically always dug by hand,
but modern machinery now does the work much more
cheaply. Tile should probably not be placed nearer the
surface than two feet or deeper than six or eight feet ex-
cept in unusual cases. Usually five feet is a good depth.
The bottom of the ditch should have a uniform grade ;
otherwise, the flow of drainage water will be uneven and
silt will be deposited in low places. In sections where
springs of fresh water occur, there is a tendency for roots
to clog the drains. They must then be placed deeper
than would otherwise be necessary. Care should be
taken to have the joints of the tile fit well together to
avoid filling with dirt. The work of covering can usually
be done with a team and scraper. The outlet should be
screened to keep out small water-loving animals, and
should be constructed so that it will not be clogged easily.
If an extensive drainage system is to be laid out, an en-
gineer should be consulted.
CHAPTER XI
HARVESTING
ON the returns of the harvest depend the profits of the
year. It is not sufficient to raise a good crop; it must
also be gathered and husbanded. The farmer's respon-
sibility does not cease till he has delivered the result of
the harvest to the purchaser and secured his pay. It
would be folly indeed to take great care in preparing a
seed-bed, in planting, in cultivating, in irrigating, and in
conducting the other operations involved in raising beets,
and then be less vigilant in harvesting the crop. The
harvest time is a very busy season and help is often scarce.
For this reason, there is a constant temptation to rush
the work and thereby to slight it. Giving way to this
temptation means the giving away of part of the season's
profit.
TIME OF HARVEST
The proper time to harvest beets varies greatly with
conditions. In parts of California and in other warm
climates, digging may begin early in July and extend for
two or three months. In most of the other sugar-beet
areas, digging starts in September and continues till the
time the land usually freezes hard. The time to begin in
148
Harvesting 149
any locality will be affected somewhat by the area in
beets. If the acreage is large and the mill will have a
long run, digging may begin before the beets are en-
tirely ripe in order that the farmers may be able to get
all the beets dug before they are frozen in the ground.
Since it is impossible to predict the kind of autumn,
mistakes are often made in the time to commence dig-
ging. For example, in 1916 over some sugar-beet areas
the land froze solid very early and thousands of acres
of beets rotted in the ground. If this condition could
have been predicted, digging would have been started
earlier and pushed faster. In 1917 the previous year's
record was fresh in the minds of all and probably
hastened digging somewhat. As it happened, however,
the fall remained open till late and all the beets were
harvested before it was necessary.
Beets should usually be harvested when they are
mature. This is not an absolutely definite point, but the
general condition of maturity can be told rather easily.
It is indicated by the browning of the lower leaves and
a yellowing of all the foliage. The leaves also lose their
vigor and have a drooping appearance. Ripeness is also
indicated by the sugar-content and purity, but it cannot
be told by analysis alone, since the composition of the
beets is variable under different conditions. A beet may
be said to be ripe when the foliage has the appearance
just described and when analysis shows a satisfactory
sugar-content and purity.
The sugar company contracting for beets reserves the
right to say when they should be dug. This is necessary
in order that the beets may be received regularly during
150 The Sugar- Beet in America
the slicing season and also because the company's agri-
culturists, aided by chemical analyses, are better able
to judge the proper time to dig than the individual farmer,
who might allow the date of digging to be influenced more
by personal convenience than by the condition of the
beets. It is easy for the farmer, desiring to close off his
fall work as soon as possible, to make the mistake of
digging too early. It is difficult for him to realize that it
is during the last few weeks of growth that the greater
part of the sugar is stored in the beet, and that the ton-
nage is also materially increased at that time. During
its early stages of growth the beet plant is sending out
roots and leaves and most of its food is used in growth.
Only when growth is nearly complete is the plant in a
position to do any large amount of storing.
Under a number of conditions the beet plant may begin
to ripen and store sugar, then later begin another period
of growth and the sugar-content be reduced. These
conditions are to be avoided. Every effort should be
made to keep the plant growing up to the time of final
ripening. A period of drought in the early fall may pro-
mote ripening; and if followed by warm rains or by an
irrigation, the plant may send out new leaf and root
growth and use a part of the sugar that has been stored.
It is, therefore, a mistake to let the beets become dry any
great period before the time of digging. Some of the
conditions bringing about this reduction in sugar are
beyond the farmer's control, but he should be watchful to
make favorable the conditions of which he is master.
PLATE XIV. — Abore, two-blade beet lifter at work, Colorado (Cour-
tesy Perlin and Orendorff) ; below, topping beets that have previously
been thrown into piles, Colorado (Courtesy American Beet Sugar Co.).
Harvesting
DIGGING
151
Two processes may be included under digging : namely,
"lifting" and "pulling." The lifting is done by means
of some sort of implement especially made for the pur-
pose. The ordinary plow can be used, but it is very
FIG. 23. — Two-blade riding beet lifter.
wasteful of power and it causes considerable damage to
the beets.
One type of lifter is made on the plan of a subsoil plow
with a single point that is pulled along the beet row to
break the beets loose from the soil. It also raises them
slightly. This is the simplest kind of implement. It is
cheap and effective, but has to be operated by hand, and
the operator walks.
A type of lifter that is probably in greater use con-
152 The Sugar-Beet in America
sists of two points parallel to each other, one on each side
of the row. Fig. 23, Plate XIV. As it moves along
the row, the beets pass between the two points, being
slightly raised but remaining standing in the soil. Some
of these are operated by a man walking ; others are ar-
ranged on a sort of cart and are controlled by a man
who rides. Several companies manufacture implements
of this type that give satisfaction. Probably no one
type is best for all conditions.
After the beets are lifted in this way, they are pulled
by hand and thrown into piles for convenience in top-
ping. Sometimes the piles are made without regard to
any order of piling; at other times the beets are placed
in such a way that all the tops lie in one direction. With-
out doubt this arrangement makes topping easier. If
the beets are not taken from the ground immediately after
lifting, there is a tendency for the soil to become compact
again around the roots and increase the work of pulling.
Two beets are knocked together when they are pulled
to remove as much of the dirt as possible. The dirt when
handled several times with the beets adds considerably
to the work involved, and it does no good since it is taken
off as tare when the beets are finally delivered to the
sugar company. Unclean beets are a source of annoy-
ance to all concerned in handling them. Sometimes the
beets are pulled and topped in one operation, but this
practice is not common.
TOPPING (PLATES xm, xiv, xv)
Topping is one of the important operations, and unless
properly done results in considerable loss. It is an ad-
PLATE XV. — Above, topping beets that have been laid in rows with
the tops all one way, California (Courtesy Union Sugar Co.) ; center,
beet silo in field, showing, a common form of beet rack (Courtesy Tru-
man G. Palmer) ; below, rack containing net to assist in unloading,
California. (Courtesy Union Sugar Co.)
Harvesting 153
vantage to both the farmer and the sugar company to
have the beets properly topped. The cut should be made
just at the sunline as shown in Plate XIII. This is in-
dicated by the coloring in the part of the beet that pro-
trudes above the surface of the ground.
The crown is low in sugar, as shown in Fig. 6. It is
also high in salts, which interfere greatly in the purifica-
tion of the sugar. These salts must be removed before
the sugar can be made to crystallize. The salts so
troublesome to the sugar makers are some of the very
ones that are desirable for plant-food in the soil ; it is to
the interest of the farmer to have them retained on the
land. The sugar company wants only the sugar, which
is the part that comes from the air; the fanner needs
the salts in order to maintain the fertility of his soil.
Proper topping serves the interests of both farmer and
factory.
When the beets are piled in windrows with the leaves
all one way, the toppers can go along the windrows on
their knees and do the topping without much bending.
When the person doing the topping stands, he must do
considerable bending in picking up the beets. This is
in part overcome by having a hook fastened to the knife
near the point. The hook is driven into the beet, which
is thereby picked up without the operator having to
stoop so far. Some object to the use of the hook since
the wound it makes in the beet doubtless results in a
slight loss of sugar. Whether this loss is enough to make
up for the advantage is not known.
After the beets are topped, they are piled on a place
that has been cleared of tops. They are now ready to be
154 The Sugar-Beet in America
hauled. If hauling is delayed, the pile should be covered
with tops to prevent evaporation of moisture, which
amounts to considerable weight on a hot day. Care
should be taken that tops are not mixed through the
pile of beets, as they are very troublesome later on at the
mill.
MECHANICAL HARVESTER
Many attempts have been made to secure machines
for the digging and topping, but these machines have
not been widely used in the past. It seems, however,
that at present machines are available to do as good
topping as can be performed by hand and more quickly
and at much less expense. Many of these are being
manufactured and it is hoped that hand-topping may soon
be relegated to the past. If these machines are entirely
successful, the labor question in sugar-beet raising will
be greatly simplified.
There are two general types of harvesters : one that
tops the beets and leaves the root in the ground to be
lifted with another implement; after the tops have
been raked into windrows, the ordinary lifter is used. An
attachment that is fitted to the lifter has been devised
and its use facilitates the lifting process. This attach-
ment also removes most of the dirt that would otherwise
attach to the root.
The other type of harvester first lifts the beet and
then tops it. This type of machine is fitted with equip-
ment that delivers the roots in piles at one side, or with
an extension of the delivery carrier, the roots are elevated
directly into a wagon that is driven alongside the har-
PLATE XVI. — Above, beet dump in common use in many sections,
California ; below, car dump with hydraulic jack, California. (Cour-
tesy Truman G. Palmer.)
Harvesting 155
vester. The tops are delivered, separate from the roots,
and left in windrows or piles.
This latter type of machine moves under its own
power, using a light-weight, high-speed gasoline engine.
The first type described is drawn by a team and requires
about the same power to propel it as does a mowing ma-
chine that is cutting alfalfa.
HAULING (PLATES xv, xvi)
Beets are taken to the factory or to the railroad load-
ing stations in wagons which are usually fitted with
special racks. The ordinary wagon box can be used, but
much labor is saved by having a rack made for the pur-
pose. The beets are thrown from the field piles into the
wagon by hand or with a beet fork. If no dumps are
available, the beets must be thrown from the wagon into
cars or into pile silos with a fork. Hand unloading in-
volves considerable hand labor, but fortunately it has to
be resorted to in a few places only. In most of the beet-
producing sections, conveniences for lessening hand labor
are at hand.
A number of types of beet racks are used : some merely
let down the sides ; others provide for the entire rack to
turn on an axis and dump out the beets. These racks
are made to hold from two to seven tons and average about
four tons. Nets are sometimes used to help in unload-
ing. These are placed in the rack before the beets are
loaded, and with their aid the entire load may be lifted
off at once.
Different companies have various methods of han-
156 The Su\ -B; .-./. in America
dling beets at the rece i ig stations and different arrange-
ments for weighing. One method is carried out as fol-
lows: When the farmer am ^5 at the dump with his
load, the wagon and beets are weighed together, and
he is given a ticket showing the weight. Several beets
of average size are takon from the load as a sample from
which to determine sugar-content and purity. He then
drives to the dumpir ': d dumps his load into a
hopper. From there uu^ L^*^ go into a revolving screen
where most of the dirt is shaken off. It drops on a belt
and is carried to a dirt hopper under which the farmer
drives and gets his dirt back. This is taken to the scales
and weighed with the wagon. From ten to fifty pounds
of the beets that have passed over the screen are weighed,
and after all dirt is removed, weighed again. From this,
the percentage of dirt is determined and the net weight
of beets calculated.
The problem of ascertaining the proper percentage of
tare is one on which there is constant friction unless both
the farmers and the factory are willing to give as well
as take. At best, the amount of tare is only an approxi-
mation, and every method that can be used to simplify
its determination will result in more agreeable relations
between the farmer and the sugar company.
The providing of inadequate dumping facilities often
leads to friction in regions where the industry is newly
established; but in the older regions dumps are being
built, so that most farmers can be accommodated without
having to haul great distances. A number of convenient
types of dumps are being used.
Harvesting 157
SILOING (PLATE xvn)
In many places where the land freezes, it is necessary to
remove the beets from the ground several weeks before
they can be sliced by the factories. This means that
they must be stored during this time. In California and
other warm sections, the beets cannot be dug many days
before they are run through the mill or they will decay;
but under these conditions there is no danger of the beets
being frozen in the ground, and they are not dug until
they can be used. In storing beets, care must be taken to
prevent heating, evaporation, and alternate freezing and
thawing. This means that the piles must be so built
that ventilation is possible without the evils resulting
from open exposure. These conditions are met differ-
ently under different conditions, depending on the length
of time the beets are to be stored, the temperature, and
the quantity of beets to be handled. A high temperature
is the greatest enemy to stored beets.
In Colorado, Idaho, and Utah, the beets that cannot be
handled in the bins at the factories are stored in large
flat-topped piles several feet deep. These are carefully
watched, and if any begin to spoil the pile is opened where
the heating begins. In some places beets are stored on
the individual farms. This is usually done in covered
ricks similar to those described in Chapter XV. -In these
piles, as in the larger ones, the main things to guard against
are heating and freezing. Provision must always be made
for ventilation. Heat is much more likely than cold to
cause loss.
CHAPTER XII
BY-PRODUCTS
IN some of the live-stock communities, sugar-beets are
becoming one of the most important crops because of
the large quantity of inexpensive stock feed produced as
by-products of the beet-sugar industry. It is the opinion
of some experienced beet-growers, especially dairy-men,
that beets would be a profitable crop to raise in order to
secure the tops for stock feed, even if no profit were ob-
tained from the beets themselves. In addition to the
tops, sufficient cheap feed in the form of pulp and molasses
is annually available to fatten thousands of cattle and
sheep. Sugar-beet regions are usually profitable live-stock
sections. Each acre of sugar-beets yielding a good crop
furnishes nearly as much feed in the form of by-products
as is obtained from most ordinary forage plants. The
best beet-growers are generally good stock-men and re-
ceive considerable of their income from live-stock.
SUGAR-BEET TOPS
In topping the beets, there remains in the field from
one-third to two-thirds as much weight as is hauled away.
This consists of beet tops and crowns. The quantity
varies considerably with the soil, climate, water received,
158
PLATE XVIII. — Above, type of beet dump in use in Nebraska (Courtesy
American Beet Sugar Co.) ; below, sugar factory with beet-pulp drier
and alfalfa-meal mill at the right, Kansas. (Courtesy Garden City Sugar
and Land Co.)
By-Products 159
and maturity of the crop ; but under ordinary conditions
about one-third of the total weight of the crop is left as
tops. This would mean eight tons of tops for sixteen,
tons of beets. The green weight varies much more than
the dry weight. Between one and two tons of dry mat-
ter to the acre in the beet tops can be depended on from
an average yield of beets, or to put it more definitely, 10
to 15 per cent of the net weight of the roots.
Much more has been done to utilize beet pulp than tops ;
but the tops furnish a cheaper feed than the farmer can
obtain from any other source. The reason for careless-
ness in utilizing the tops is probably due to the fact that
they are a by-product and their true value has been
underestimated. When dried in the field, beet tops
contain about the same amount of nutrients as an equal
weight of alfalfa hay; their feeding value is about the
same except that they are lower in nitrogen and con-
tain a comparatively large amount of potash and organic
acids, which cause animals to scour when they have un-
limited access to the tops.
Composition of the tops.
The composition of tops is shown in Table V. The
ash consists of potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium,
chlorine, sulfuric acid, silica, and phosphoric acid, which
are valuable fertilizers and should not be taken from the
land. The tops consist of two to three parts of leaves
containing about 2.2 per cent ash, to one part of crowns
containing 5.6 per cent ash. Because of the high ash-
content of the tops, it is often advocated that they be
plowed under just as they are topped in order not to
160
The Sugar-Beet in America
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By-Products 161
disturb the fertility of the soil ; but this practice is not
economical when live-stock can be fed and the manure
returned to the land. It would be better, however, to
plow the tops under than to allow them to be taken
away from the farm and have no manure returned. It is
a much more profitable practice to buy stock to eat the
tops than to sell the tops, because the price obtained for
them is usually much below their feeding value, which
may generally be considered as equal to about one or two
tons of alfalfa hay for each acre of beets. Besides, if
their fertilizer value has to be replaced by commercial
fertilizer, the loss is considerable.
Feeding and storing beet tops.
There are three general methods of feeding beet tops.
The most common consists in turning the stock into the
fields to pasture the tops just as they were left when re-
moved from the beet. Although this is the easiest way,
it is very wasteful ; it is estimated that from one-third to
two-thirds of the tops are tramped into the ground or
soiled by manure and dirt. There is also danger that
the stock will over-eat if allowed to run freely to green
tops after they have been eating dry feed. When this
occurs the cattle scour excessively and fattening is de-
layed. This danger is somewhat lessened if the tops are
allowed to become dry. Tops, when left in the open,
sometimes tend to mold and cause trouble in feeding.
This is especially true in humid sections. If pasturing is
regulated somewhat for the first three or four days, the
stock may be trusted safely to feed on the tops without
injury. This method is less desirable than drying the
162 The Sugar-Beet in America
tops and feeding as hay or than making them into silage.
When labor is expensive and feed cheap, this may be the
most economical method of feeding.
When hay is more expensive and when labor is avail-
able shortly after the beet harvest, it is common to gather
the tops after they have cured in the field and stack them
like hay. Whether it is more profitable to dry-cure the
tops or to silo them is a difficult question to answer in
arid regions where curing is easy, but in humid regions
siloing is unquestionably to be preferred. In case the
beets were thrown in piles before topping, the tops are
usually in piles that can be gathered easily; but when
topping is done directly from rows or by a mechanical
topper, it is usually necessary to gather the tops with
a hay rake before hauling them. A large part of the tops
is always lost in handling them dry ; hence it is usually
advisable to gather while they are still green or only partly
dry. Piling green results in a smaller loss than does
curing in the open field. Usually there is considerable
dirt gathered with the tops. This could be avoided by
using care in gathering.
Under ordinary conditions in a sugar-beet region, live-
stock feeding is an important industry and feed is rather
expensive because land that might otherwise produce
forage crops is planted to beets. It is important, there-
fore, that as much cheap feed be used as possible. Since
tops are a good and also a cheap live-stock feed, much
more attention should be given to their preservation than
is usually done in this country.
Methods of handling by-products are shown in Plate
XX.
By-Products
163
Siloing beet tops.
The greatest feed value can be obtained from beet tops
by siloing. This practice also proves beneficial by free-
ing the leaves from pests, such as the leaf -spot and crown-
rot organisms, and by removing the favorable hibernating
places for insects. Siloing has the serious drawback that
it requires considerable labor at a time when hands are
most needed. To make good silage, the tops should be
////
FIG. 24. — Beet-top silo above ground.
put into the silo within two or three days after being re-
moved from the beet. It usually pays to silo the tops if
conditions are favorable; but the supply and wages of
local labor and other economic considerations make the
problem one that each farmer must solve for himself.
The usual method of siloing beet tops consists in digging
a trench six to ten feet wide, four to five feet deep, and
as long as necessary in a well-drained soil, as convenient
as possible to the feeding yards (Fig. 25). Silos are
sometimes made on top of the ground, as in Fig. 24, but
the depth is governed to some extent by the nearness of
164
The Sugar-Beet in America
the water-table to the surface; the depth of the pit is
frequently less than given above and the thickness of tops
made up by extending the pile above ground. Less work
is required in covering the silage if the trench is not too
wide. Sufficient width, however, should be given to
allow the wagon carrying the tops to be driven freely
M //'//
FIQ. 25. — Beet-top silo below ground.
over them. This aids in compacting the tops. In
scraping the trench out, the ends are left sloping enough
to allow the wagon to pass easily in and out. In esti-
mating the size of the excavation, usually it is assumed
that the yield of silage will be about one-half the weight
of the roots and that a ton of the green tops will occupy
thirty-eight cubic feet.
In order that as small a proportion as possible of the
tops shall spoil, six to eight inches of straw are spread
By-Products
165
on the bottom and sides of the excavation in which the
tops are to be siloed. To absorb a part of the moisture
and to make the best use of the straw on the farm, a six-
inch layer of tops is often alternated with a three-inch
layer of straw as illustrated in Fig. 26, although the re-
sults are entirely satisfactory when no straw is used.
earth'////
a^ftSpwjys^^
straw-
FIG. 26. — Beet-top silo with alternating layers of tops and straw.
From three to seven pounds of salt for each ton of silage
is sometimes added while the silo is being filled. The
value of this practice is questioned by some feeders.
When all the tops are in the silo, a layer of straw is spread
over the top and eight to ten inches of earth thrown over
this to exclude the ah* as much as possible. In filling, it
is essential that each layer be rather firmly packed both
by the wagon delivering the tops and by a roller or by
horses led over the tops near the edges. The drier the
166 The Sugar- Beet in America
leaves when put into the silo, the more the packing that
is needed. When layers of straw are alternated with
layers of tops, greater care will need to be used in pack-
ing to exclude the air more thoroughly.
A cheaper but more wasteful manner of siloing, prac-
ticed by some, consists in piling the tops in large heaps
without the excavation and allowing the surface few
inches to decay, thus forming a protective covering for
the interior of the stack. Obviously, the larger the pile
the smaller the proportion of tops that will decay.
After a period of about four to six weeks, the silage
fermentation has progressed far enough to correct the
cathartic, or scouring, effect of the tops, and they are
ready to be fed. This silage is handled and fed in much
the same manner as corn silage; all kinds of live-stock
readily eat it when they become used to it.
Use of beet silage.
A large part of the beet tops is fed to beef cattle, and
it probably serves best when used for this purpose. Beef
fed on tops command as high a price as any on the mar-
ket. Cattle-men ordinarily figure that for each acre of
beets raised there will be sufficient tops to feed one steer
at least one hundred days, allowing about twenty-seven
to thirty pounds of dry matter to the steer each day.
When used as pasturage, not more than a month to the
acre is counted on to each steer. Usually some hay, and
often pulp and grain, are fed in addition to the silage. By
feeding twenty to thirty pounds of the beet-top silage a
day, the hay eaten will be about half what it is without
the silage.
By-Products 167
With dairy cattle the quantity of tops fed should be
much smaller than with beef, because the former should
have more concentrates and less bulky feed. Fed in
moderate quantities, equaling about one-third of the total
ration, the silage increases the yield of milk; but with
unlimited access to the tops, cows do not maintain their
milk flow. Each acre of beets should furnish from one
hundred fifty to two hundred days' feed for an ordinary
dairy animal. About the same quantity of siloed tops
may be used as of corn silage.
Sheep do well on beet tops, but care must be taken
that they eat only moderate quantities at first. Because
of the desirable flavor and color of their flesh, sheep fed
on beet tops are in great demand. Pasturing sheep on
the tops is perhaps the most common practice, but it is
dangerous not only because of the scouring effect of large
quantities of tops on the animals but also because sheep
tend to pack the soil, and thereby to destroy its tilth, par-
ticularly if the land is wet. Sheep are usually fattened
on beet by-products during the winter, and it is more de-
sirable that the tops be siloed than pastured or fed dry,
since the silage is always warm and convenient to handle
in winter. Satisfactory, rapid, and economical gains
have been realized from feeding three to four pounds of
beet-top silage a day together with a lessened quantity
of hay or other supplementary feeds.
If the land is not so wet that it causes the soil to pack,
either sheep or hogs may be pastured on the remaining
tops after the siloing or stacking has been done. Con-
siderable feed is left in the form of undug beets and
scattered tops that these animals relish. Since pork
168 The Sugar-Beet in America
from hogs fed on beet tops is of a desirable quality, feed-
ing tops to them is recommended. Experiments 1 show
that hogs pastured on beet tops and receiving one-third
normal grain rations did well. Horses should not be fed
large quantities of tops.
SUGAR-BEET PULP
After the beet has been sliced into shreds and most of
the sugar extracted, pulp remains as a by-product. A
great many experiments in this country as well as in
Europe have been conducted to determine the value of
this pulp. The interest in it seems to have been due not
so much to its value as to the difficulty of disposing of
such a great quantity of material at the factories. Ap-
proximately 85 per cent of the original weight of the roots
is discarded as fresh pulp, but by the time the water has
been well drained from it and it has gone through the
siloing process, only 25 to 35 per cent of the original weight
of the roots remains. The tops can be dried easily into
a rich hay in the more arid parts of the country, whereas
it is rather expensive to dry pulp. The dried pulp is less
than twice as valuable for feed as the cured tops. When
time cannot be spared to silo the tops and when a suc-
culent feed is desired during the winter, the pulp may be
the more economical even though it is usually necessary
to pay a small sum for it. Table V shows the relative
value of tops and pulp.
Only a small part of the pulp is fed just as it comes
1 Shaw, R. S., Mich. Exp. Sta., Bui No. 223.
By-Products 169
from the mill. Most of it goes into huge lumber-lined
earth] silos six to ten feet deep, where it ferments into
the pulp that is ordinarily fed. An increasing number of
factories is being equipped with drying plants into which
the pulp goes after a part of the water is expressed by
pressure. In a few minutes the pulp is reduced to a mois-
ture-content of about 10 per cent, after which it is sacked
for shipment, or is mixed with molasses before being sent
to market.
By drying pulp, the loss due to fermentation is avoided
and a concentrated feed is made. About 5 to 6 per cent
of the original weight of the beets is recovered in drying.
Dried pulp is somewhat similar to corn or to cornmeal
in composition and in feeding value. In this form it is
worth about ten times as much as the fresh pulp and
about eight times as much as the siloed pulp.
Uses of beet pulp.
It is often necessary to starve stock for a few days in
order to induce them to eat siloed pulp for the first time ;
but once they acquire the taste for it, all classes of live-
stock eat it readily. Although siloing gives to pulp a dis-
agreeable odor, it is a better feed after fermentation than
before. The value of pulp lies not only in its succulent
nature, as with corn silage, but it also has a desirable
hygienic effect. Brood animals and dairy cattle are es-
pecially benefited by the laxative properties of the pulp.
It has a stimulating effect on the digestion of all animals
and enables them to make the most of their feed. Wet
pulp is almost an ideal feed in sections where alfalfa forms
the roughage part of the ration. Where grain can be ob-
170 The Sugar-Beet in America
tained at a moderate price, alfalfa, grain, and pulp put
a fine finish on stock; but thousands of animals are fat-
tened without the grain, especially where it is high priced.
By varying the amount of pulp in proportion to other
feeds, it is possible to make excellent rations for fattening
animals, producing growth and milk, preparing for
maternity, and for merely wintering the animals cheaply
without their losing weight. The combination of feeds
and the amount of each is altered according to the pur-
pose. Likewise, the value of the pulp to the feeder is
determined by the object of the feeding, the character
and amount of supplementary feed, the condition of
the animals to be fed, and the value of the finished
product.
Being close to the great stock ranges, the western beet-
sugar companies are able to make good use of pulp. With
rations made up largely of the siloed pulp and alfalfa hay,
thousands of steers are fattened annually on these feeds.
The stock fresh from the ranges are at first fed largely on
alfalfa hay with only a comparatively small amount of
pulp. This is increased gradually until the daily ration
consists of about fifteen pounds of alfalfa and one hun-
dred pounds of siloed pulp. When fed alone, pulp is a
poorly balanced feed which will endanger the lives of the
animals, and will not fatten stock that are in poor con-
dition. Grain and some roughage must supplement it.
The best feeders begin with alfalfa hay and a small
amount of pulp, increasing the pulp until the full ration
is given, then toward the close of the feeding period a
small quantity of grain is added. Where grain can be
fed economically, the amount used is gradually increased
By-Products
171
and the pulp decreased until the grain entirely supplants
the pulp for a short period just before the steers are put
on the market. In spite of the economy of feeding grain,
thousands of steers are placed on the market without it.
The Colorado Station,1 in a one-hundred-day period,
found that if the steers were in poor condition when the
fattening period commenced, adding about half of an
ordinary ration of corn to the pulp and alfalfa hay caused
FIG. 27. — Pulp being piped from factory to silo.
the steers to gain nearly half as much again as without
the grain. With the same type of animals, the gain was
about three-fourths greater when grain and pulp were
fed than when only hay was used. The animals fed on
pulp were also more thrifty than those not receiving it.
For two-year-old fattening steers, nine pounds of wet
pulp was equal to 2.8 pounds of alfalfa hay or to one pound
of ground corn. In computing the amount of pulp neces-
sary for steer fattening, stock-men consider one and one-
half tons of pulp a month to be sufficient for each steer.
From four to seven tons of wet pulp and one ton of alfalfa,
1 Carlyle, W. L., and Griffith, C. J., Colo. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 102.
172 The Sugar-Beet in America
together with the supplementary feeds, if any is used,
will finish one steer for the market. About forty-one
pounds of beef is produced from a ton of pulp under
average conditions. The daily amount fed is about 6 to
10 per cent of the weight of the animal. Figure 27 shows a
method of transporting sugar-beet pulp. Other methods
are illustrated in Plate XIX.
For wintering steers, the amount of pulp fed is often
greater and the roughage may be straw instead of hay.
Cattle will come out of the winter in fair condition on
pulp and oat straw ; but they are not so thrifty and do not
make the growth they should without a little nitrogenous
food such as alfalfa hay or grain. Dried pulp is gen-
erally considered too expensive to feed to steers, although
at some periods it has been found to be about equal to corn-
meal for fattening them and is somewhat cheaper.1 At
Michigan it was ascertained that dried pulp tended to
produce growth rather than fat; hence, it is recom-
mended that it be fed during the early part of the feed-
ing period and dropped from the ration later. From three
to five pounds of the dried pulp a day is a common amount,
although some feeders allow as much as ten to fifteen
pounds to the animal.
Used in moderate quantities, pulp is desirable for dairy
cattle. Milch cows need considerable nourishing feed,
but they will not eat enough to bring best results when
they receive only dry feed. The stimulating effect of a
succulent feed such as corn silage is well recognized. The
dry matter in wet beet pulp is equal to that in corn silage
1 Shaw, R. S., and Norton, H. W., Jr., Mich. Exp. Sta., Buls.
Nos. 220 and 247.
PJ.ATE XIX. — Above, cured pulp being hauled from the silo ; center,
pulp silo almost empty ; the pulp remaining in the silo till the end of
the season, due to evaporation and fermentation is much more concen-
trated than when fresh ; below, (Courtesy National Sugar Manufacturing
Co.) pulp silo and feeding yards joining a sugar factory, Colorado.
By-Products 173
for milk production,1 so that by feeding enough more of
the pulp to make up for the extra water it contains the
same effect is obtained by the two feeds.
If properly fed, no ill effects on the milk result, and
there is a stimulating action which causes the cow to
consume more dry roughage and to produce milk more
economically. With no other succulent feed in the
ration, the benefits of siloed pulp are very marked. Since
the cow should not have too large a quantity of bulky
feed, it is not advisable to feed more than twenty to forty
pounds of pulp a day, although fifty to one hundred pounds
would be eaten if placed before the cow in unlimited
quantities. Dried pulp finds great favor with dairy-men,
especially with those who are feeding for high milk pro-
duction. The stimulating effect is obtained in the dry
pulp without the bulk, although, it is better to soften
with a little water before feeding.2 Replacing forty-five
pounds of corn silage with nine pounds of dried beet pulp
and five pounds of mixed hay increased the milk yield
11 per cent. Experiments show dried pulp to have a
value as a dairy feed equal to two-thirds that of wheat
bran,3 and it frequently takes the place of bran, oil meal,
and the like, in the dairy ration.
There is some diversity of opinion as to the value of
mixing the beet molasses writh the dried pulp. In New
Jersey the addition of the molasses had little influence
when compared with the dried pulp without the molas-
1 Wing, H. H., and Anderson, L., Cornell Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 183.
2 Billings, G. A., New Jersey Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 189.
3 Woll, F. W., and Humphrey, G. C., Wis. Exp. Sta. Ann. Rpt.,
1905, pp. 108-117.
174 The Sugar-Beet in America
ses, either of them being about equal to hominy meal.
Comparing three pounds of molasses beet pulp with two
pounds of whea^ bran, it was found that the pulp pro-
duced 12 per cent more milk than the bran.1 In other
experiments 2 these two feeds were determined to be about
equal. Molasses pulp is usually considered to be more
laxative than the pulp without the molasses.
In addition to cattle, thousands of sheep are fattened
on siloed beet pulp and alfalfa hay near the sugar fac-
tories of the West. Pulp has proved to be an excellent
feed both for fattening and breeding animals. The meat
is of excellent quality and much sought for in the larger
markets. As in the case of steers, it is advisable grad-
ually to increase the pulp ration until the finishing-off
period, when the pulp is substituted by a less bulky feed.
The addition of four-tenths of a pound of grain a day to
a full pulp and alfalfa-hay ration was found to reduce
the amount of pulp and hay, respectively, by about five
and about two times the weight of the grain. It was not
considered advisable to feed more than four-tenths of a
pound of grain to sheep on pulp and alfalfa, and whether
it should be fed at all or not depends on the prices of the
feed.8 Colorado experiments4 show that a ton of wet
pulp has about the same feeding value as 200 pounds of
corn for fattening lambs. Dried beet pulp has been
found 5 to produce larger gains with growing lambs on
1 Wis. Exp. Sta. Ann. Rpt., 1905.
2 Hills, J. L., Ver. Exp. Sta. Ann. Rpt., 1904, p. 484.
» Merrill, L. A., and Clark, R. W., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 90.
4 Griffin, H. H., Colo. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 76.
6 Shaw, R. S., Mich. Exp. Sta., Bui No. 220.
By-Products 175
clover hay and bran or oats than does cornmeal, although
for fattening cornmeal was the better feed. Trials with
sheep have failed to show that the drfed-molasses beet
pulp is any better for a feed than plain dried pulp. One
hundred pounds of fresh pulp absorbs about six pounds
of molasses; this will produce from fifteen to eighteen
pounds of dried-molasses beet pulp. The usual amount
of wet pulp to feed sheep is from seven to ten pounds a
head each day, and of dried pulp about the same weight
as the grain they would have received. It is usually ac-
cepted by stock-men that eight sheep or twelve lambs
should receive the same quantity of feed as one steer.
Although wet fermented pulp is ordinarily considered
too bulky and too laxative for horses, it has been con-
cluded that when fed in limited quantities it is not harm-
ful. Farm work horses eating as much as twenty pounds
daily did well on this feed when combined with oats and
alfalfa hay.1 When thus fed, the pulp displaced about
one-sixth of its weight of oats. Perhaps more of the
pulp is fed to horses in the dried form, and especially
molasses-dried, than in any other form. In any form,
pulp is not extensively used for horses, except for young
growing animals and for brood mares when a rather laxa-
tive feed is desired.
During their growing period, swine make good use of
pulp, as do also sows without pasture. When fed in
moderate quantities, young pigs relish it and make good
gains, although grass answers the same purpose by act-
ing as a mechanical agent to stimulate digestion. Pulp
1 Clark, R. W., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 101.
176 The Sugar-Beet in America
is so bulky that only a small part of the ration should
be supplied in this form. Pulp and molasses sometimes
take the place of part of the shorts or of similar
feeds.1
To winter brood sows cheaply, pulp and a small quantity
of grain have been used with good results. For hogs,
the quantity of pulp recommended is between one and
two pounds for each pound of grain fed in fattening. If
dried pulp is used, it is usually softened with milk before
being fed.
WASTE SUGAR-BEETS AND ROOT-TIPS
The feeding of roots left from the production of sugar-
beet seed is growing in importance. These beets contain
from 6 to 14 per cent of sugar and frequently yield from
eight to ten tons to the acre. Since their woody fibrous
nature prevents their being used for sugar-making, feed-
ing seems to be the only way of obtaining a profit from
them. The great amount of fibrous material makes them
somewhat dangerous for stock, which are sometimes killed
by accumulations of this material in the digestive tract.
If fed in moderation and in connection with other feeds,
it seems possible to utilize this rapidly increasing by-
product. Formerly, only a few acres of beet seed were
grown in America, but in the future thousands of acres
will be devoted to seed production.
A product that merits more attention for feeding pur-
poses than it is receiving is that which remains after the
1 Clark, R. W., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 101.
PLATE XX. — Above , dairy cows fed largely on sugar-beet by-products,
Kansas (Courtesy Garden City Sugar and Land Co.) ; center, feed
yards near factory, Utah ; below, beef cattle being fattened on sugar-
beet by-products, California. (Courtesy Union Sugar Co.)
By-Products 111
beets are washed at the factory. Quantities of root tips,
leaves, and stems are flushed into the sewers and go to
waste. If the water in the flumes carrying the beets to
the factory were made to run over a screen just below
the device for elevating the beets to the washer, con-
siderable valuable feed might be saved. Various feeding
practices are shown in Plates XX and XXI.
SUGAR-BEET MOLASSES
In factories not equipped with the Steffen process of
removing additional sugar from the molasses, there re-
mains from 3 to 5 per cent of the original weight of the
beet as a bitter molasses. Factories turning out molas-
ses as a by-product vary the quantity according to whether
the price of the sugar minus the cost of extracting is greater
than the price for which the molasses can be sold. The
ordinary amount that is sold as a by-product is about
forty to sixty pounds for each ton of beets sliced. The
purity of the juice, which in turn is modified by climatic,
soil, and other conditions, such as the manner of topping,
also modules the quantity remaining after the sugar is
made. Formerly, it was almost impossible to make a
satisfactory disposition of the molasses, but today it is
highly valued both as a stock feed and for manufactur-
ing such products as alcohol, fusel oil, vinegar, and
certain kinds of fertilizer. Reference to Table V shows
molasses to contain about 60 per cent of digestible nutri-
ents. A large part of this, 50 per cent of the total weight,
consists of sugar that cannot be extracted except by the
Steffen process because of the high percentage of salts,
178 The Sugar-Beet in America
about 7.2 per cent being present. These salts, together
with organic substances, give the molasses a disagree-
able taste and a laxative action, which makes it unsuitable
for human use and for animals when used in large quan-
tities. When properly combined with other feeds and
slowly introduced into the ration, it furnishes a desirable
nutrient for fattening animals. For most stock, molas-
ses is first diluted with water and then sprinkled on the
roughage with which it is to be fed. In Europe, peat,
which has no food value in itself, is sometimes used as
roughage. Stock will eat large quantities of straw when
sprinkled with molasses and do well on it. When pur-
chased in combination with other feed, it is usually in the
form of dried-molasses beet pulp. Molasses is a valu-
able material to feed with alfalfa hay because its high
carbohydrate content balances the high protein of the
alfalfa.
Alfalfa leaves and molasses are about equal to grain for
feed and cost much less. To begin with, only about one-
fourth of the full amount of molasses should be fed.
This may be increased gradually to the full ration. It is
a violent purgative when fed in excessive quantities or
when introduced too rapidly into the ration; but if
properly fed, its tonic action allows the best use to be
made of a large quantity of rough food that might not
otherwise be utilized. It should not be fed to brood
animals in quantities large enough to cause great activity
of the bowels, as this is likely to cause abortion. For
fattening purposes, it is worth six to eight times its weight
of wet pulp.
The use of molasses for fattening beef cattle is increas-
By-Products 179
ing in the western states. Many factories must raise
stock as a side line in order to make a satisfactory disposal
of pulp and molasses. Some of the larger feeders chop
alfalfa hay or straw and sprinkle molasses over it with
satisfactory results. About twenty pounds of molasses
to each one hundred pounds of straw is a common pro-
portion. Molasses increases the appetites of stock, re-
sulting in their eating more feed at a time ; fattening is
thereby hastened.
The Great Western Sugar Company, in experiments on
a large scale in which they used ordinary range cattle,
found that for each one hundred pounds gain it required
about 7500 pounds of pulp, 240 pounds of molasses, 760
pounds of alfalfa hay, and 90 pounds of grain. It is
usually aimed to feed three to four pounds of molasses a
day along with the other feeds, although some give larger
quantities. A ration recommended for a hundred fifty
day feeding period with steers in ordinary condition is
one ton of alfalfa, 400 pounds of molasses, 500 pounds of
grain, one-half acre of beet tops, and one-fourth acre of
oat straw. Steers on this ration made a gain of about
1.7 pounds a head each day and were marketed in the
best of condition.
Without concentrates, it takes a little longer to get
steers in good marketable condition; the flesh is not so
firm, neither will the stock stand shipping so well with-
out a great shrinkage; but practically the same total
gain is obtained from feeding a ton of alfalfa, five to seven
tons of pulp, and four-tenths of an acre — or about 500
pounds — of dry beet-top hay. With less pulp avail-
able, molasses and grains should make up the deficiency
180 The Sugar-Beet in America
according to the amount of nutrients lacking in the
pulp.
Dairy cows are favorably influenced by small quanti-
ties of molasses. Each cow can use to advantage from
two and a half to three pounds a day. When other
laxative feeds are not present in the ration, it is especially
good as a tonic and results in an increased yield of milk.
Sheep make good gains on molasses, fermented pulp,
and alfalfa hay. In some sections, molasses is used to
fatten old ewes and less valuable sheep, the only ad-
ditional feed being the hay or straw with which it is
mixed. Molasses beet pulp and dried beet pulp are
about equal to corn and cause the same gains. It is not,
however, extensively used in this way.
In some parts of America, molasses has met with con-
siderable favor for feeding horses. When used in quan-
tities not to exceed two quarts — 5.6 pounds — daily, it
has been found possib'e to substitute it for grain pound
for pound. Because of its laxative effect, most horse-
men prefer not to feed more than one to one and one-half
quarts a day. Horses at hard work, receiving this quan-
tity of molasses mixed with twenty pounds of alfalfa or
clover hay, and receiving six to seven pounds of rolled
barley a day, kept in better condition than horses with
a full grain ration. It is advisable to begin feeding
horses with only one-fourth to one-half quart of molasses
a day until they become used to it.
Hogs have been fed successfully as much as one pound
of molasses a day while on pasture without causing di-
gestive troubles. Feeding in larger quantities (2.4 pounds
or more) for fattening quickly has sometimes proved
PLATE XXI. — Above, sheep being fed molasses on straw, Colorado
(Courtesy National Sugar Manufacturing Co.) ; center, tops of beets
eaten by the army-worm in their rapid spread over the field ; below,
balloon used in catching grasshoppers.
By-Products 181
rather unsatisfactory.1 Shorts, beet pulp, and beet mo-
lasses when combined produced nearly as large gains as
the full ration of shorts alone. By feeding one hundred
pounds of molasses, thirty-two pounds of shorts and one
hundred fifty-three pounds of beet pulp were saved.2
Over-feeding with molasses causes excessive scouring and
often results in death to pigs. Molasses is not generally
considered to be a good pig feed ; if it is used, only small
quantities should be given, and this must be introduced
gradually into the ration.
WASTE LIME AND MINOR BY-PRODUCTS
Considerable lime is used to purify the juice in the
manufacture of beet-sugar. After the lime has combined
with the impurities, it is of no more value to the manu-
facturer. Some factories run this refuse lime into the
sewer; others run the lime water into large reservoirs
where the water is allowed to evaporate, leaving the lime
as a residue. Lime to the extent of 2 to 6 per cent of the
weight of the beets is required; hence, the quantity of
waste product is large. No satisfactory commercial use
has been found for it, although it has been used to some
extent as a fertilizer. Its value for this purpose varies
with the quantity of water in it, the quantity of valuable
constituents it contains, and the nature of the soil on
which it is to be used. The following is an analysis of
samples from a Michigan factory :
1 Clinton, L. A., Cornell Exp. Sta., Bui No. 199. 1902.
2 Clark, R. W., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 101.
182 The Sugar-Beet in America
Water 44.40
Insoluble matter 23.37
Iron and alumina (Fe2O3, A^Oa) . .. 4.05
Lime (CaO) 34.90
Magnesia (MgO) 1.16
Carbon dioxid (CO2) 26.00
Phosphoric acid (P2O8) 48 to 1.53
Potash (K2O) 07 to .11
Organic matter 9.06 to 10.76
The product from different factories varies consider-
ably in composition. It will be seen from the analysis
that the fertilizing value depends almost entirely on its
lime-content, the other valuable plant-foods being present
in almost negligible quantities. This makes the material
of value to the farmer only in case his land is poor in lime.
Most of the beet lands of the country are fairly rich in
lime and the demand for this waste product is not so great
as it would be in regions having acid soils. There is no
doubt, however, that on clay or acid soils greater use
should be made of the waste lime. Many of the less fri-
able and unworkable soils would require much less work
and would produce better crops if lime were applied. An
ample supply of lime makes more available the phos-
phorus, potassium, and other plant-foods in the soil.
When possible it is flooded over the land with irrigation
water, thereby saving hauling and distributing.
A few conditions occur which make the use of the
waste factory lime unpopular. Being wet and mucky,
it is very difficult or impossible to spread it evenly over
the ground. In districts infested with certain pests,
the use of the lime, together with the other refuse that is
usually found with it, endangers the greater spread of
By-Products 183
these troubles. The disagreeable odor that accompanies
most sugar-factory by-products makes them nauseating to
handle. Its bulky nature makes its use uneconomical at
great distances from the factory.
In addition to lime, a small amount of potassium and
ammonium fertilizer is made from by-products of the
manufacturing process in factories equipped with the
Steffen process. After all possible sugar is extracted from
the molasses, there remains a slop containing compara-
tively large quantities of inorganic salts and organic com-
pounds that may be utilized for making fertilizer. The
slop must be evaporated to dryness to obtain the fertilizer.
This is profitable only when potassium brings a high price.
Under normal conditions the slop can best be used on
local farms with the irrigation water. Under more in-
tensified farming, it may become profitable to evaporate
and return it to the land from which it came; but at
present it seems improbable that this material can compete
commercially with the cheaper sources of fertilizer.
Besides the products mentioned, there are a number of
others, such as filter cloth and rubber belting, that are
sometimes made of use for various purposes by the local
community.
CHAPTER XIII
PESTS ANT) DISEASES
WITH the increase in sugar-beet production, it is only
natural that there should also be an increase in the pests
that attack the plant. The gradual introduction of the
enemies of the crop into sections is continually making
the sugar-beet more difficult to raise. Because the
various troubles are likely to appear at almost any lo-
cality, it is imperative that growers should be able to
recognize them in order that they may be checked as
completely as possible. Profitable sugar-beet production
has practically ceased in certain sections because the
seriousness of the pests was not recognized and control
measures taken in time. It is not within the scope of
this book to give a complete discussion of all the pests
and diseases affecting sugar-beets. Those who wish more
detailed information should consult the special publica-
tions dealing with the various troubles.
.
INSECT PESTS
Extent of pest injury.
There are at least one hundred and fifty species of in-
sects known to feed on beets ; of these about forty are of
184
Pests and Diseases 185
economic importance.1 It is the leaves and not the mar-
ketable part of the beet that usually suffer ; therefore,
unless proper functioning of the leaves is prevented, the
injury passes without notice.
Ordinarily, injury is not great if proper methods are
taken to prevent the incoming of pests ; but if no atten-
tion is given to them and if farm practices are followed
without regard to pest troubles, the damage is likely to
be considerable. For example, the nematode when in-
troduced into a region is usually unheeded, because of
which it gradually infests the soil, making beet-growing
impossible until suitable rotations are adopted. Insect
difficulties vary greatly from year to year. One year
grasshoppers or army-worms may devour everything in
their way, but the next year they may be absent almost
entirely.
Whenever there is a serious outbreak of any pest or
disease in a locality, the State Agricultural College should
be called on for help and every agency should cooperate.
The sugar factory agriculturist and the county agricul-
tural agent will be able to give assistance with ordinary
troubles. When a new pest or disease appears, experts
from the State Experiment Station or the Department of
Agriculture should be summoned.
Preventive measures for controlling pests.
A few general precautions known and utilized by all
beet farmers would prevent a great part of the loss oc-
casioned by insects. Weeds, especially those belonging
to the same family as the sugar-beet, such as the dock,
1 Forbes, S. A., and Hart, C. A., III. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 60.
186 The Sugar-Beet in America
lambsquarter, and cocklebur, are breeding plants of many
of the most serious pests. Clean culture that would
eliminate these weeds greatly lessens the injury due to
insects. Rotation of crops is practiced by many of the
beet-farmers, but a few maintain the one-crop system until
the enemies of the beet become so numerous that the crop
no longer can be grown. Much loss is occasioned by
planting beets after grass or similar crops that harbor
some of the worst beet enemies, such as the cutworms and
wireworms. Fields are not ordinarily kept as clean of
insect-harboring rubbish over winter as might be wished.
In sections where cutworms give difficulty it should be
known that plowing either in the fall or in the spring
lessens injury from this insect. When attacks of insects
become acute, sprays and insecticides save much injury.
Two general classes of insecticides are available : (1)
contact solutions for insects such as plant-lice and leaf-
hoppers, which obtain their food by piercing the plant
and by sucking its juice ; and (2) poisons applied in solu-
tion to the leaves of the plant to kill such insects as cater-
pillars, beetles, and grasshoppers, which feed on the out-
side of the leaves. The most effective contact spray is
made of a solution of tobacco. For biting or chewing
insects, sprays containing a poison such as the arsenicals
are employed, the insects being killed by eating a part
of the plant covered by some of the poison. The latter
type of spray should contain a very active, poison which
will not easily run off the leaves of the plant and be
wasted, as frequently happens when not properly applied ;
hence arsenate of lead is one of the best sprays.
Insect troubles vary from section to section; some of
Pests and Diseases 187
the most serious in one locality are not known in others.
Certain insects, though present in a locality, may do very
little damage even when serious elsewhere. Such insects
as the leaf-hopper are greatly affected by geography.
In some places they have rendered successful beet-culture
practically impossible, though in other sections the injury
is but slight. Treatments must, therefore, be applied
locally. No general description will suit all conditions.
Blister-beetles (MeMdae). (Plate XXI.)
These insects sometimes descend in swarms on field
and garden crops, destroying the foliage and ruining the
crops. No less than a dozen species of blister-beetles
work on crops. The insect is a long, narrow beetle with
a distinct head and "neck." In color it is black, gray, or
mottled, with a black or yellow stripe running the length
of the wings on most species. The grubs, or larvae, of
the blister-beetle feed on grasshopper eggs, and when the
grasshoppers are more injurious than the beetles, it may
pay not to disturb the beetles. The beetles may be kept
from the leaves by applying bordeaux mixture. When
this spray is made up with paris green as a constituent,
it may be beneficial. When the attack is sudden, the
usual method of control is to drive the insects from the
field by a number of men swinging branches over the
crop. The beetles move ahead of such a disturbance and
do not return quickly after once having been expelled.
Army-worms.
The beet army-worm (Caradrina [Laphygma] exigua
Hbn.) occurs in disastrous abundance on beets at certain
188 The Sugar-Beet in America
periods. -Outbreaks of this pest in the beet fields of the
western states have at times nearly ruined the crop. With
the exhaustion of its usual food in years when it is worst, it
migrates from field to field devouring everything in its
course as shown in Plate XXI. The larvae which do the
injury are naked, dull-striped worms resembling cutworms
and closely related to them. Except when moving in
armies, the worm is not noticed, because it usually remains
concealed in the daytime, feeding mainly at night. When
full grown, the worm is about one and one-half inches
long, of a dark color except for a yellowish stripe down the
back and one down each side. The second brood makes
its appearance in the latter part of the summer; as a
result, late plantings suffer most. Its normal food plants
are certain weeds; hence clean culture will prevent a
number of the pests from developing. Poisoning with
paris green or arsenate of lead offers much relief when
there are a great number of the insects. The poison should
be applied as soon as injury is noticed.
The common army^worm (Leucania unipuncta Haw).
This species is similar to the above except that it has
three yellow stripes instead of one down its back and it
winters as a half-grown larva in the ground, emerging in
the spring as a dull brownish moth. It more often at-
tacks cereals and grasses, but also eats sugar-beets. This
worm does its injury in early summer, whereas the beet
army-worm is most troublesome in late summer. This
insect troubles more crops than the beet army-worm and
is more widely distributed. Ordinarily, it is held in check
by its natural enemies, but when it becomes excessively
Pests and Diseases 189
abundant, control methods are necessary. One method
of control is by plowing three or four furrows with the
vertical edge facing the direction from which the army is
approaching and dragging a log down these furrows to
make a loose dust mulch. If the dust is warm, many of
the insects perish by suffocation when they fall into this
dust, but it is better to drag the pole down the furrow
often during the invasion in order to kill as many as pos-
sible. If the attack is severe, it is often a good policy to
spray the furrows with kerosene emulsion in case there is
not sufficient time to do the dragging. The best method
of control consists in applying a heavy dose of lead ar-
senate to the crop around the edge of the field. Poisoned
bran mash is often effective in preventing a severe attack.
By fall-plowing fields in which worms were numerous in
late summer, many of the hibernating larvae are destroyed.
The fall army-worm (Laphygma frugiperda S. and A.).
This species is rather similar to the above insect, but
its destructive period is usually later in the summer. In
appearance it is very similar to the beet army-worm and
is distinguished from it by the number of dots on its
segments. It does not develop the army instinct so readily
as the common army-worm and is not ordinarily so de-
structive. It feeds on a wide variety of crops. Arsenical
sprays are frequently successful in controlling this pest.
Often on large fields, such as alfalfa stubble before the
beet field is reached, many of the worms are crushed by
running a heavy roller over the field. Plowing and
disking, together with cultivation, kill many of the over-
wintering forms.
190 The Sugar-Beet in America
Sugar-beet webworm (Loxostege sp.).
These insects were introduced into this country before
1869, when they were observed in Utah, having probably
come to the Pacific coast from the Orient. It is an in-
habitant of Western and Central Europe and Northern
Asia. Its wild food plant is pigweed (Amaranthus) and
injury is greater to beets when this weed is allowed to
grow abundantly.
The worms spin webs over the leaves of the beet and
eat out the portions between the veins. The larva is an
inch long when full grown, brownish in color, with a
narrow dark stripe edged with white down the middle of
the back, and a light stripe along each side. Small dots
cover the surface of its body.
The worms burrow into the ground in the fall and spend
the winter in white silken cocoons which they spin around
themselves. In the spring the moth comes out and lays
eggs on the leaves of pigweed and alfalfa. A second gen-
eration comes in July in some regions and a third in August.
The last brood is likely to do most injury to sugar-beets.
Control measures consist of poisoning and late fall
plowing, which breaks up their winter cells in the soil.
Arsenate of lead is sprayed on the beet leaves. Since the
worms destroy the plants rapidly, the poison must be put
on as soon as the injury is observed.
Cutworms (Noctuidae).
Every gardener is familiar with the work of this group
of insects. The several species going under the name
of cutworms are the larvae of night-flying moths. The
worms are smooth and of a mottled brown color, the
Pests and Diseases 191
species having a slightly different appearance. They
work most vigorously in spring about the time the garden
is coming up. They attack practically all crops, doing
most damage by cutting off the young plants just as they
are coming through the ground. When they are present
in large numbers and take on the army habit, almost
everything in their way is destroyed. They feed at night
and hide during the day.
The moths lay eggs in July and August in fields that
have grown up to weeds. The eggs hatch early in the fall
and the young worms feed a few weeks before hibernat-
ing in the soil. In the spring they come out with a full-
grown appetite ready to eat almost anything. If poisoned
bran, clover, or alfalfa is spread over the field just before
the young beets come up, the worms will devour sufficient
of the bait to be killed before injury is done to the crop.
Arsenate of lead is used for poison. In large fields thor-
ough cultivation in the late summer and keeping the
land free from weeds, together with deep fall plowing and
early spring cultivation, help to control the pest.
White grubs (Lachnosterna spp.).
The larvae of several species of June bugs or May beetles
pass under the name of white grubs. As high as 15 per
cent of the fields of beets in some districts has been re-
ported destroyed by this pest, although it is not usually
considered to be serious. Its action is worse in crops
following sod, since grass land is its natural breeding place.
Its life history is similar to that of the wireworms dis-
cussed below, about two years being required for the
grub to complete its cycle.
192 The Sugar -Beet in America,
The presence of this pest is usually indicated by the
dying of plants throughout the field. Examination of
the soil near the plants shows the soft-bodied white worm
curled up. It is from one inch to an inch and a quarter
in length, and has a brown head and an enlarged abdomen.
Nothing added to the soil is practical in killing the
grub. Fall plowing, proper rotation of crops, and avoid-
ing the use of infected manure are all helpful in control-
ling the pest. Chickens and hogs are very fond of the
grub and will help to eradicate it. Care in handling
manure in which it develops may also help.
Wireworms (Elateridae).
The larvae of several species of "click beetles" or
"snapping beetles" are known as wireworms on account
of their tough and wiry appearance. These slender,
cylindrical worms vary from one-half inch to one inch
in length. They vary from a shiny yellow to a shiny yel-
lowish brown color, with their segments showing plainly.
They move about by means of three pairs of dark legs
close to the front of the body.
"The life history of the injurious subterranean species
is in some respects similar to that of the white grubs, the
beetles being among the earliest spring arrivals, occur-
ring in April and May, and flying rapidly in the heat of
the day. The eggs are generally deposited in moist places
grown up with grassy vegetation, weeds, or corn, and the
larvae upon hatching feed, like the white grubs, upon the
roots, developing slowly and requiring about the same
period for the completion of the life cycle — about two or
three years. Like the white grubs, the wireworms trans-
Pests and Diseases 193
form to pupae in autumn and the change to the beetle
form takes place before winter, the beetles usually remain-
ing in a quiescent state until their emergence the following
spring." l
Wireworms do not affect sugar-beets nearly so much
as they do some other crops. They are always worse
after sod, corn, beans, or potatoes. When once they get
into the land, they are difficult to eradicate by ordinary
treatments. Nothing put on the land will kill them with-
out also injuring the soil. One of the best ways is to starve
them out by summer fallowing or by growing crops on
which they do not feed. The elimination of trash from
the field also helps.
Flea-beetles and leaf -beetles (Chrysomelidae).
Several small leaf-feeding beetles, known as flea-beetles
and leaf-beetles, do considerable damage to sugar-beets.
The most severe injury is to young beets when they have
from two to eight leaves. Some of these insects cause in-
jury both in the adult and larval stage. The beetles
skeletonize the leaf by eating out the pulp between the
veins. These insects are sometimes poisoned by the use
of paris green, london purple, and paragrene applied dry
mixed with flour and dusted on to the leaves. Arsenate of
lead is an effective spray. Clean culture is also helpful.
Grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers are among the most common and the best
known of crop pests. They eat almost all kinds of plants
1 Chittenden, F. H., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. of Ent., Bui. No.
43.
194 The Sugar-Beet in America
and attack sugar-beets only incidentally. Grasshopper
injury varies greatly from year to year, usually increasing
gradually up to a climax year and then dropping off sud-
denly to begin the gradual ascension again. At least a
dozen species are known to attack sugar-beets.
Grasshoppers are commonly kept within normal num-
bers by natural enemies, among which are birds, fungous
diseases, and other insects. Mechanical means of coping
with them, such as that shown in Plate XXI, are also used.
Plowing under the eggs before they have had time to
hatch is probably the most effective means of controlling
them when the breeding grounds can be handled in this
way. Several types of catchers are also used with success.
Arsenic-bran mash is the most economical and effective
poison.
Beet-root aphis (Pemphigus betae Doane).
Within the last few years the beet-root aphis has spread
rapidly over the beet-growing sections of the United
States. Attention was first called to it in 1896. It is
similar in appearance to its relative, the woolly aphis of
the apple. The insect lives on the small roots of the beet,
sucking juice from it and thereby dwarfing the plant. It
protects itself by means of its woolly covering and is
consequently not injured by irrigation water. At inter-
vals a generation of winged individuals appears; these
fly to other fields, where they settle down and begin a
new colony. In the fall, winged females fly to cotton-
woods and lay eggs on the trunks. These hatch in the
spring and migrate to leaves, where they pass one or more
generations before going to the beet fields. In Colorado,
Pests and Diseases 195
another species (Tychea brevicornis Hart.) has done con-
siderable damage. This species also works on corn roots.
No direct method of control is known for either of these
insects. Sprays are impractical since the insects work
under the ground. Prevention, the only known method
of coping with the pest, can be practiced, however, in crop
rotation and clean cultivation. Thorough tillage early
in the spring is thought to help in controlling aphids.
Sugar-beet nematode (Heterodera schachtii Schmidt).
One of the pests that has done most damage to sugar-
beets during the last few years is the nematode. This
is not a true insect, but is an exceedingly fine, threadlike,
colorless worm, so small that it is difficult to see with the
naked eye. When these worms hatch from the egg, they
enter the nearest rootlet and feed on the plant juices.
This results in the formation of a dense mass of rootlets
which cling to the beet when it is pulled up (Plate XXII).
This has resulted in calling the trouble "bearded roots,"
"hairy roots," and other similar names.
The first evidence of the pest is a change in the color
of the foliage, which takes on a lighter tint when the beet
is injured. The outer leaves gradually wilt and finally
die. The inner ones are small and do not thrive. Often
the plant dies and the infected land is left bare. Usually
this condition appears as a spot in the field which gradu-
ally enlarges. Since the pest is readily carried about in
the soil, when it once becomes established in a district,
it is likely to extend to all the fields unless its spread is
checked.
Rotation of crops seems to be the best method of
196 The Sugar -Beet in America
combating the difficulty. Many farmers, who have for
several years raised sugar-beets on the same land, are
being forced by the nematode to practice rotations.
Shaw l has proposed dividing the sugar-beet states of
the country into the following four groups and has given
crops to be included in rotations in each group :
Group (1) California and Arizona.
Group (2) Oregon and Washington.
Group (3) Utah, Montana, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, and
South Dakota.
Group (4) Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,
New York, and West Virginia.
Crops for the groups :
Group (1) Cowpeas, soybeans, sweet clover, rye, the millets,
tomatoes, asparagus, lettuce, cantaloupes, straw-
berries, barley,2 corn,2 Lima beans,2 and wheat.2
Group (2) Cowpeas, soybeans, sweet clover, rye, the millets,
truck crops (such as lettuce and asparagus —
but not celery), barley,2 and wheat.2
Group (3) In addition to the crops mentioned in Group (2),
cantaloupes, cucumbers, and potatoes.2
Group (4) Clover, cowpeas, sweet clover, soybeans, rye, the
millets, tobacco, flax, peppermint, cucumbers,
strawberries, melons, lettuce, asparagus, some
other truck crops, the grasses with the exception
of tall oat-grass, barley,2 corn,2 Lima beans,
potatoes, and wheat.2
When only small areas are infested, the pest may be
prevented from spreading by pulling and destroying with
quicklime beets for several feet around the infested area.
When there might be a possibility of carrying the pest
1 Shaw, H. B., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui No. 772.
2 Occasionally slightly infested with beet nematode, but may
be used in a rotation series.
PLATE XXII. — Above, beets injured with nematode in comparison with
a normal beet of the same age ; below, spot in beet field affected by nema-
tode.
Pests and Diseases 197
on seed, heating that seed to a dry temperature of 145° F.
will kill any nematode without injuring the seed.
The beet leaf hopper (Eutettix tenella Baker).
This is probably the most serious pest of the western
sugar-beet. Plate XXIII. It causes injury through the
disease curly-leaf, which it transmits. This disease, to-
gether with all other similar leaf troubles, has gone under
the general name of "curly top." For many years the
cause of this important disease was not known, but the
discovery that it is due to punctures made in the leaf by
the beet leafhopper makes clear the source of the difficulty.
"Attention 1 was first called to the trouble in 1899 and
1900, when it appeared throughout the entire western
region from California to Nebraska. Another serious
outbreak occurred in 1905. Over the large part of the
area it has only appeared two or three times in twenty
years. In smaller areas it has usually appeared in three-
year attacks, cumulative in nature, after which it has
almost totally disappeared for a time. In still other
areas it has appeared the greater part of the time, and in
these areas beet-raising has not been successful.
"This insect is single-brooded, hibernates as an adult,
flies to the beet field in late spring, and lays eggs in beet
stems — a few at a time until mid-summer. The larvae
mature in summer and the adults disappear in early fall.
It is found on shadscale, greasewood, Russian thistle,
and fine-leaved annual salt bushes. Swarms of these
insects appear suddenly in beet fields previously unin-
fested. Much evidence points to the conclusion that these
1 Ball, E. D., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 155 (1917).
198 The Sugar-Beet in America
swarms fly from their breeding grounds on wild plants for
long distances over mountain chains and other barriers.
Sometimes there will be only one flight into a partic-
ular region; if so, beets coming up later will not be
infested.
"Leaf hoppers taken from wild plants do not transmit
the disease until they feed on diseased beets. Three hours
on a beet rendered them pathogenic, but they could not
transmit until after an incubation period of one or two
days. It is probable that some wild plant carries the
disease and leafhoppers coming from this plant are able
to transmit it to the beets.
"A large number of leafhoppers, early attack, hot
weather, and clean cultivation are favorable to the curly-
leaf development. The converse of these factors, together
with frequent cultivation, early irrigation, and shade or
weeds, are unfavorable. Seed growing is doubly hazard-
ous in curly-leaf areas.
"Loss from curly-leaf may be largely prevented by
avoiding dangerous areas, by planting small acreages
in a 'blight cycle/ by controlling the time of planting,
by not thinning just as the leafhoppers appear, and by
knowledge of conditions on breeding grounds. Para-
sites doubtless assist somewhat in controlling the leaf-
hopper, but to be at all effective should be introduced
into the permanent breeding grounds."
DISEASE INJURY
The losses due to beet diseases have not been great in
America, probably because beets have been grown here
Pests and Diseases 199
only a few years and the diseases have required time for
their spread. New beet areas have each year been
opened up and these have been free from disease. The
American beet-raiser has come to regard the crop as being
free from disease and requiring no attention in this mat-
ter. The time of complete freedom from disease, however,
has passed. Already the fields in the older districts are
infested ; the fight must be taken up in earnest. We may
feel thankful for past immunity, but now precautions must
be taken to keep in check the diseases that menace the
industry. Many fungous and bacterial organisms live on
the sugar-beet plant, but only a few are of great economic
importance. There are also a number of troubles that
seem to be physiological. Forms of rot on tubers in stor-
age are shown in Plate XXIII.
Leaf -spot (Cercospora beticola Sacc.).
This fungous disease is one of the best known and
widely distributed of the sugar-beet. It is found in all
American beet-growing districts. The amount of injury
depends on the number of the fungous plants present
and the period in the beet's life when the attack begins.
Late plantings are as a rule less affected by the disease
than early. It is more injurious to sugar-beets than to
the red garden variety.
It begins as tiny white spots scattered over the leaf,
which later develop into small brown spots with a red-
dish purple margin. There may be from ten spots to
several hundred on each leaf. As the spots become older
they turn ashen gray at the center and gradually increase
in size until the entire leaf may be covered, when it be-
200 The Sugar-Beet in America
comes black and crisp. The outer, or older, leaves are
the ones first affected.
Townsend,1 in summarizing methods of control, says:
" (1) Leaf-spot may be controlled on a commercial scale
and in an expensive manner by a carefully planned and
thoroughly executed system of crop rotations or by deep
fall plowing. The best results are obtained by combin-
ing these two methods.
"(2) A proper and uniform supply of soil moisture,
spraying, and proper disposition of beet tops and stable
manure are important aids in the control of the leaf -spot.
"(3) The principal agencies in the distribution of the
leaf -spot fungus are wind, water, insects, and man and
other animals.
"(4) Leaf-spot tends to reduce either the tonnage or
the sugar content of the beet, or both, depending on the
time, duration, and severity of the attack.
"(5) Leaf -spot seriously injures the feeding value of
beet tops."
Bordeaux mixture is used as a spray. The fungi are
killed when the beet tops are siloed.
Heart-rot (Phoma betae Frank).
This disease, which is one of the most serious of the
sugar-beet in sections of Germany, Austria, and France,
has recently been introduced into the United States where
it will probably become rather serious in the next few
years. It has already gained a strong foothold in several
beet-growing sections.
1 Townsend, C. O., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers1 Bui. No. 618
(1914).
PLATE XXIII. — Above, beet affected with curly-leaf (Photo by E. D.
Ball) ; below, types of rot attacking beets during storage.
Pests and Diseases 201
Duggar l describes it as follows : " It begins to mani-
fest itself as a rule in August by blackening and drying
of the younger heart leaves, and later older leaves also
succumb, so that before the period of harvesting all the
leaves may be dead and merely the beet stub remain.
In cases where the beets are grown for seed, the fungus
may also be found upon the seed stalks and cases. It is
thought that this is one means by which the fungus may
pass over from one year to the next. From affected leaves,
particularly along the course of the fibrovascular bundles,
the browning and general discoloration of the tissues extend
into the tissues of the root, and there rot sets in. If the
disease begins early in the season great injury may be done.
"Spraying experiments have not yet given complete
satisfaction. Care should be taken to destroy such re-
mains of the previous crop as is practical, and the treat-
ment of seed with Bordeaux mixture is desirable where
disease abounds."
One company has adopted the practice of treating the
seed where more than 25 per cent shows infection. The
entire question of treating seed for this disease is at pres-
ent somewhat unsettled.
Scab (Oospora scabies Thaxt.).
In some sections sugar-beets are affected by a scab
similar in appearance to that on the potato and caused by
the same organism. It usually covers the beet more com-
pletely than it does the potato. The disease begins as
small irregularities on the surface of the beet in which a
corky, or spongy, appearance is seen. These small patches
i Duggar, B. M., "Fungous Diseases of Plants." (1909), p. 3.
202 The Sugar-Beet in America
spread and unite till a great part of the surface of the beet
may be covered.
On potatoes the disease may be controlled by treating
the tubers, but this treatment is not applicable to beets.
Beets should not be planted on land known to be infected
with scab, and particular care should be taken not to
follow scabby potatoes with beets.
Soft-rot (Bacterium teutlium Met.).
This rot has done considerable damage in Nebraska and
in a number of other states where beets are grown. " It 1
consists of a rotting away of the lower portion of the root,
the crown and leaves remaining normal except in the most
severe cases, when the outer leaves may fall. The rotted
portion is honeycombed with cavities which are filled with
viscous, colorless, sour-smelling fluid which exudes on
pressure. The decayed tissue is usually yellowish gray.
The rot seldom appears above the surface of the ground.
Young beets are not susceptible. The disease is favored
by damp surroundings, as poorly drained soil. In some
cases, large damage is known to result, sometimes fully
90 per cent of the crop being affected. It is inadvisable,
if the disease is noted, to grow beets in wet soil."
The moisture condition of the soil seems to have great
influence on soft-rot.
Beet-rust (Uromyces betae Kuhn).
This rust, which has been known in Europe for a half
century, is found in some American beet fields, particularly
1 Stevens, F. L., and Hall, J. G., "Diseases of Economic
Plants." (1910), p. 209.
Pests and Diseases
in California. It has the appearance of the true rusts.
The leaves contain pustules of yellowish brown powder.
Cold damp weather favors the development of the dis-
ease, which may be controlled by a bordeaux mixture
spray, should it become sufficiently serious to justify this
measure. Affected leaves fed to stock may carry the
disease through the manure to plants the following season.
Rhizoctonia.
The group of fungi called Rhizoctonia by De Candolle
seems to be responsible for injury to beets as well as to
potatoes. The beet Rhizoctonia has gone under the
name Rhizoctonia betae Kuhn, and has been popularly
known as root-rot. This disease works principally in the
seedling stage of the plant. At this time, on account of
its girdling action, which is typical of Rhizoctonia, it
shuts off the movement of food to the roots and the plant
dies.
No effective preventive measure for controlling this
disease is known. General sanitary conditions — drain-
ing the land and keeping the surface of the soil aerated
and in a good sanitary condition — help in retarding its
growth. One precaution in handling the trouble is to
delay planting until the soil is warm enough to enable the
seed to germinate rapidly and for the seedling to get a
good start.
Sugar-beet mosaic.
This disease is increasing from year to year. In some
places it affects a high percentage of the plants. It causes
the leaves to turn a mottled yellow and to have a patched
204 The Sugar-Beet in America
appearance. The shortened petiole resulting from it
makes the plant resemble one having curly-top, although
the two diseases are easy to distinguish. The roots of
plants having the mosaic disease are likely to be dwarfed
and are often hairy.
Damping-off.
The damping-off of seedlings near the surface of the
ground when they first come up results in considerable
loss in some districts. This may be caused by a number
of organisms, among which are Rhizoctonia, Phoma, and
Pythium. The conditions which favor damping-off are
heat, abundant moisture, and a weakened condition of
the seedlings. The elimination of any of these condi-
tions greatly reduces the difficulty from this cause. Plants
on heavy clay soils are more subject to the disease than
those raised on lighter soils. Improving the tilth of these
soils also reduces the likelihood of injury from damping-
off.
CHAPTER XIV
FACTORS AFFECTING QUALITY OF BEETS
SUCCESS in the beet-sugar industry depends on the
maintenance of high quality in the beets. The industry
was made possible only by improving the quality of the
crop ; in the first years of beet-sugar making, profits were
realized only in the more favorable seasons. Since the
quality of beets has been so much improved, the industry
has gained a foothold that places the raising of sugar-
beets as one of the important phases of agriculture in
many sections. As the success of the industry is so
closely related to the quality of beets, everybody con-
nected with their raising or the manufacture of sugar from
them is interested in conditions that affect quality.
WHAT ARE GOOD BEETS
In choosing desirable types of beets, several definite
ideas should be kept in mind. Chief attention must be
given to high sugar-content combined with high yield.
These two characters are somewhat antagonistic, yet
neither can be neglected. The end sought is the highest
acre-yield of sugar. At the same time, it is desirable to
have beets of a size and shape that can be harvested and
handled at the lowest possible labor cost to the farmer as
well as beets from which the manufacturer can extract
205
206 The Sugar-Beet in America
the sugar efficiently. This calls for beets of a high-
yielding strain, high in sugar and purity, and having a
desirable size and shape.
The qualities of good beets are summarized by New-
lands 1 as follows (cf . Plate XXIV) :
" 1. They have a regular pear-shaped form and smooth
skin. Long, tapering carrot-like roots are considered
inferior to pear-shaped Silesian beets.
"2. They do not throw out forks, or fingers or toes.
"3. They have white and firm flesh, delicate and uni-
form structure, and clean sugary flavor. Thick-skinned
roots are frequently spongy, and always more watery
than beets distinguished by a uniform firm and close
texture.
"4. They weigh, on an average, one and one-half to
two and one-half pounds apiece. Neither very large nor
very small roots are profitable to the sugar manufacturer.
As a rule, beets weighing more than three and one-half
pounds are watery and poor in sugar; and very small
roots, weighing less than three-fourths of a pound, are
either unripe or too wroody, and in either case yield com-
paratively little sugar. As the soil and season have a
great influence on the composition of the crop, it is quite
possible, in a favorable season, and with proper culti-
vation, to produce beets weighing over four pounds, which,
nevertheless, yield a good percentage of sugar. Speaking
generally, good beet roots in average seasons seldom ex-
ceed two and one-half pounds in weight.
"5. Good beets show no tendency to become necky,
1 Newlands, J. A. R. and B. E. R., " Sugar, a Handbook for
Planters and Refiners," p. 395.
PLATE XXIV. — Above, well-shaped beets ; center, beets of poor shape ;
such beets grow on water-logged land and also result from great quan-
tities of coarse manure in the soil ; below, three types of beets ; 6 has
a more desirable shape than a or c.
Factors Affecting Quality of Beets 207
and their tops are always smaller than those of inferior
beets. Cornwinder has shown that beets with large
leaves are generally richer than those with smaller leaves,
and he always prefers the former for seed.
" 6. Good beet roots are considerably denser than water,
and rapidly sink to the bottom of a vessel filled with
water. The specific gravity of the roots affords a pretty
good test of their quality, for the greater their specific
gravity the richer they will be found in sugar as a rule.
A still better test than the gravity of the root is the
specific weight of the expressed juice. The juice of good
roots has usually a density varying between 1.06 and
1.07. When very rich in sugar the gravity of the juice
rises above 1.07, even reaching 1.078 in English-grown
roots, indicating over 14 per cent of crystallizable sugar.
Juice poor in sugar always has a density below 1.06.
"7. In a well-cultivated soil, the roots grow entirely
in the ground, and throw up leaves of moderate size.
This tendency to bury itself in the soil is characteristic
of good sugar beets, but it may be greatly frustrated in
thin stony soil and in stiff clay resting on impervious
subsoil."
Sugar-beets raised under irrigation do not conform
entirely to the above standards, since there is a tendency
for them to grow larger than when irrigation water is not
applied; good beets are often much larger than New-
lands' figures indicate. It must be remembered, how-
ever, that very large beets are usually lower in sugar than
the smaller ones. A definite correlation between size
and sugar-content has been observed when other con-
ditions are the same.
208
The Sugar-Beet in America
CONDITIONS PRODUCING GOOD BEETS
Climate is one of the most important agencies affect-
ing the quality of beets. Wiley,1 after several years of
TABLE VI. — TABLE OF GENERAL AVERAGES OP AGRICULTURAL
AND ANALYTICAL DATA FOR THE FIVE YEARS, 1900-1904
Stations where Irrigation Was not Used
AVERAGE
ESTIMATED
SUGAR IN
PURITY
TEMPERATURE
STATION
YIELD PER
THE
ACRE
BEET
CIENT
June to
May to
August
October
Tons
Per Cent
°F.
°F.
Lexington, Ky. . .
8.4
9.0
71.2
75.2
69.6
Washington, D. C.
15.7
9.1
71.3
74.2
68.9
Blacksburg, Va.a
13.3
12.9
77.7
69.9
64.4
Madison, Wis. . .
18.2
13.0
81.4
69.3
63.3
Lafayette, Ind.3 . .
7.5
13.2
83.2
72.4
67.4
Ithaca, N. Y. . . .
13.3
13.2
79.0
67.7
62.1
Ames, Iowa 2 . . .
14.2
13.8
79.6
73.0
66.6
Agricultural College,
Mich.8 ....
13.4
14.2
83.6
68.0
62.3
Geneva, N. Y. . .
16.1
14.6
85.1
69.3
64.0
Stations where Irrigation Was Practiced
Logan, Utah 2 . .
18.9
13.2
81.2
69.5
62.4
Pomona, Cal.4 . .
8.0
14.2
82.5
70.5
68.9 8
Fort Collins, Colo.2
20.4
14.7
83.9
65.1
59.4
1 Wiley, H. W., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. of Chem. Bui No. 96.
2 Data for 3 years. 3 Data for 4 years.
4 Data for 2 years.
6 1904 ; data for March to September.
Factors Affecting Quality of Beets
209
experimentation, has pointed out how the weather, par-
ticularly the temperature, affects the percentage of sugar
in beets. In this connection, he shows that a high sugar-
content usually indicates a high purity also.
Tables VI and VII summarize the results of five years'
experiments with sugar-beets raised under widely dif-
ferent climatic conditions in the United States. The
author points out the fact that temperature, or, in other
TABLE VII. — GENERAL AVERAGES OP METEOROLOGICAL DATA
(May to October) FOR THE FIVE YEARS, 1900-1904
Stations where Irrigation Was not Used
STATION
TEMPERA-
TUBE
PRECIPITA-
TION
CLEAR
DATS
SUNSHINB
Lexington, Ky ....
°F.
696
Inches
14 9
90
Per Cent
71 6
Washington, D. C. . . .
Blacksburg Va
68.8
644
21.5
21 9
83
57
62.9
53 7
Madison, Wis
63.3
67.4
21.1
20.8
56
71
647
Ithaca, N. Y
Ames Iowa
62.1
66.6
18.8
250
48
107
60.4
642
Agricultural College, Mich.
Geneva, N. Y
62.3
64.0
19.8
20.0
63
59.6
Stations where Irrigation Was Practiced
62.4
5.90
126
787
Pomona, Cal.2 ....
68.9
3.65
124
73.8
Fort Collins, Colo. * . . .
59.4
11.00
80
63.8
1 Three years' data.
2 Two years' data ; 1904 data for March to September.
p
210 The Sugar-Beet in America
words, latitude, is the most potent element of environ-
ment in the production of beets rich in sugar.
It has already been indicated in Chapter V that the
soil does not have so great an effect as some other factors
in modifying the percentage of sugar in the beet. It
does, however, have some effect and it has a decided in-
fluence on the size and shape of beets as well as on the
purity of the juice. Headden 1 found that an excess of
nitrates in the soil has a decidedly detrimental effect on
the quality of beets. He 2 showed earlier that the amount
of ash in the beet is increased by the presence of alkali.
Voorhees 3 has pointed out that the kind of fertilizer and
the time it is applied influence the sugar-beet. This has
been discussed more fully in Chapter VI. It has often
.been observed that beets high in sugar have a lower
percentage of ash than have poor beets.
Soil moisture during the growing season is one of the
most important factors influencing the quality of beets.
This has been discussed in Chapter X on irrigation and
drainage.
There is a great difference in the quality of individual
beets raised under the same conditions. This results from
the ordinary variation found among all plants and animals.
Part of this variation is due to heredity and is trans-
missible, but part of it cannot be transmitted to its
progeny. There is, of course, considerable difference in
the quality of beets of different strains, the same as there
is a variation in the amount of milk given by different
1 Headden, W. P., Colo. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 183 (1912).
2 Headden, W. P., Colo. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 46 (1898).
* Voorhees, E. B., " Fertilizers,': p. 344.
Factors Affecting Quality of Beets 211
breeds of cows. The relation of breeding to quality is
discussed rather fully in the next chapter.
The storage of beets may have considerable effect on
their quality, although if they are stored properly the
quality is not affected materially. A normal amount of
respiration goes on in all beets ; hence there is a gradual
loss of sugar. This may be slight if the temperature is
near the freezing point; but it increases rapidly as the
temperature rises. Claassen l says that the rate of res-
piration does not seem to be affected by the percentage
of sugar in the beets, but that it is much more rapid in
unripe than in ripe beets. Breaking the beets into pieces
and also any other mechanical injury tend to hasten
respiration.
Freezing does not seem to injure the quality of beets,
particularly if they are allowed to thaw slowly. Re-
peated freezing and thawing, however, has a detrimental
effect, especially if the beets are allowed to become warm
between the freezings. Headden 2 found that though
simple freezing does not change the sugar-content of the
beet, the distribution of the sugar is affected if only part
of the beet is frozen. Sugar moves from the frozen to the
unfrozen part.
Drying increases the percentage of sugar in the beet,
but the total amount is not increased ; in fact there is a
loss of sugar when the beets are allowed to lose moisture.
The purity is also reduced by drying. It is also more
difficult to extract sugar from wilted beets. The factory,
as well as the farmer, loses when beets are allowed to wilt.
1 Claassen, H., "Beet Sugar Manufacture," p. 8.
8 Headden, W. P., Colo. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 46.
212 The Sugar-Beet in America
When beets have to be stored before they can be sliced,
the pile should be given as smooth a surface as possible
in order to reduce the relative amount of surface exposed,
and thereby reduce evaporation. It is neither necessary
nor desirable to cover beets piled in this way when the
piles are large.
CHAPTER XV
PRODUCTION OF SUGAR-BEET SEED
IN obtaining sugar from the beet there are three dis-
tinct enterprises: the production of seed, the raising of
beets, and the manufacturing of sugar from the beets.
In America, only the last two have been given special
attention; America has depended on Europe for seed.
The time has now arrived to forge the third link in the
chain necessary to make the American beet-sugar in-
dustry secure. The uncertainty of a foreign supply of
seed during war times, endangering an enterprise having
a hundred million dollars invested, has demonstrated that
all three phases of the industry must be developed at
home.
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD SEED
To say that good seed is desirable is simply to re-state
one of the commonplaces of all sound agricultural teach-
ing. In the case of sugar-beets, however, this doctrine
has a special significance. All the reasons for good seed
with any crop apply to beets; in addition the entire
success of the industry depends on having seed that will
produce beets of a standard quality. With wheat, if the
quality of seed is poor, the worst that can happen is that
the yield of the resulting crop may be reduced by a few
213
214 The Sugar-Beet in America
bushels. All the crop that is produced will serve the
purpose for which it is raised. With beets, on the other
hand, unless sufficient sugar is present to permit extrac-
tion at a profit, the crop is practically valueless for sugar-
making.
The farmer and the sugar manufacturer are both in-
terested in seed, for unless the factory can be made to
pay, the business will have to be discontinued and the
farmer will not have a market for his crop. The interests
of the sugar factory have been so great that it has taken
charge of the seed situation and has assumed the responsi-
bility of furnishing seed to farmers contracting to raise
beets. The factory could better afford to give the farmers
free seed that would produce good beets than to allow
them to plant inferior seed, for the cost of seed is negli-
gible in comparison to other costs. If two grades of seed
were obtainable, one that would produce beets having
14 per cent sugar and the other beets with 16 per cent
with equal yield, it would pay the sugar company to take
the better seed if it sold for a dollar a pound and the
poorer seed could be secured for nothing. This shows
how absolutely necessary it is to have nothing but the best
seed.
HIGH GERMINATION
From the farmer's point of view, seed that is high in
germinating power is essential. The yield of beets to
the acre is directly dependent on the rate of germination
of the seed. With some other crops, such as wheat, if
the stand is poor, this condition can be overcome in part
by the plants stooling and producing many heads from a
Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 215
single seed. More than a hundred heads of wheat have
been reported to come from a single seed. In this way
the plant tends to use all the food and moisture that is
available in the soil even with a comparatively thin stand.
Beets have no such power to make up for a thin stand.
The roots may be somewhat larger where they are not
crowded; but if many of the seeds fail to germinate, it
is impossible to secure a satisfactory yield. If there are
blank spaces in the beet rows, the yield will be reduced
by just that much. For this reason it is important to
make careful germination tests of every lot of seed that
is offered for sale. Particularly is this true of seed that
is stained and dark in color, indicating that it has been wet.
SOURCES OF SEED
Until the last few years, practically all of the sugar-
beet seed used in America was imported from Europe.
This was not because it could not be raised in America,
but because foreign seed could be obtained at a low price
and it was much less trouble to secure it in this way than
to produce it at home. The sugar companies arranged
for the seed ; they were in the business of making sugar
and not of producing seed; hence they took the line of
least resistance and purchased the seed where it could be
obtained easiest. For this reason, a home seed industry
was never developed. This method of procuring seed
was satisfactory as long as everything went well, but it
had its decided disadvantage.
The seed requirements of the United States for the
next few years probably will reach nearly 15,000,000
216
The Sugar-Beet in America
pounds a year. For a number of years, in the neighbor-
hood of 10,000,000 pounds of seed have been used annually.
Prior to 1911, practically all this seed came from Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Russia, and France. Since that time
the home production has grown, and since 1914, when the
European war made it impossible to depend on the old
supply, the industry has developed very rapidly in
America. Palmer 1 states that 90 per cent of all the beet
seed used in the world is produced in Germany and Russia ;
69 per cent is from German-grown seed ; and 78 per cent
of all the beet-sugar produced outside of Russia and
Germany is from German-grown seed.
The amount of seed produced in the United States in
1916 and 1917 is given by the Department of Agriculture 2
as follows :
TABLE VIII. — SUGAR-BEET SEED PRODUCED IN THE UNITED
STATES
STATES
BEETS GROWN FOB SEED
1916
1917 (Preliminary)
Area
Production of
Seed
Area
Production of
Seed
California, Idaho, Utah .
Colorado, Kansas, Mon-
tana, Nebraska .
Michigan and Ohio . .
Acres
2,178
2,725
365
Pounds
1,628,000
3,455,000
128,000
Acres
2,523
1,978
78
Pounds
2,458,000
3,030,000
58,000
Total
5,268
5,211,000
4,579
5,546,000
1 Palmer, T. G., "Sugar Beet Seed" (1918), p. 101.
2 Monthly Crop Report, December, 1917, p. 128.
Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 217
These figures show that between a third and a half of
the seed required was produced in the country during
1916 and 1917. Considerable of the remainder came
from Russia through Siberia. Since the reserves of seed
stored in the country have gradually decreased, it will
be necessary to rely entirely on the home supply until
seed can be obtained from Europe.
DISADVANTAGES OF IMPORTING SEED
The importation of seed is attended by many disad-
vantages. In the first place, the entire beet-sugar in-
dustry is threatened in times of war, when, for any reason,
it would be impossible to import seed. This condition
cannot fail to detract to a great extent from the stability
of the industry. Perhaps the most important disad-
vantage of imported seed is that the breeding has been
done for conditions unlike those in which the beets are
to be raised. Since the climate and soils of Europe are
different from those of the beet-growing sections of the
United States, there is doubtless a great loss in yield and
sugar-content due to the foreign seed not being entirely
suited to local conditions. When the source of supply
is not near at hand, there is likely to be difficulty in ad-
justing any little business differences, which at times may
become annoying. In times of scarcity of good seed,
there is also a likelihood that the best will be held in
Europe for home-planting and inferior seed sent to
America.
Tests made at Schuyler, Nebraska, as early as 1893,
gave better yields of beets with higher sugar-content
218
The Sugar-Beet in America
from domestic than from imported seed. The same result
has been obtained in many other places since that time.
At the Utah Experiment Station,1 tests were made to
compare imported seed with that produced on the Station
farm. The results given for imported seed represent the
average of seed received from a number of foreign seed
companies. In all cases, it was represented to be superior
seed. The home-grown seed is from strains raised at the
Experiment Station for ten years :
TABLE IX. — COMPARISON OF BEETS RAISED FROM IMPORTED
AND FROM UTAH EXPERIMENT STATION SEED
YEAB
UTAH SEED
IMPOBTED SEED
Per Cent Sugar
in Beets
Yield Beets
Tons per Acre
Per Cent Sugar
in Beets
Yield Beets
Tons per
Acre
1912 . . .
18.97
22.68
18.25
25.15
1913 . . .
16.40
21.28
15.58
26.08
1914 . . .
16.25
25.06
15.45
29.03
The table shows that although the beets from home-
grown seed were higher in sugar-content in each of the
years than the beets from imported seed, the yield was
somewhat higher for the imported seed.
Germination tests were conducted to compare the im-
ported and the home-grown seed with the following result
expressed in number of sprouts to 100 seed-balls: Im-
ported seed — a, 53; b, 79; and c, 124; the average of
six samples of home-grown seed was 126. Since each
1 Harris, F. S., Utah Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 136 (1915).
Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 219
seed-ball contains a number of germs, there are often
more sprouts than seed-balls. It will be noted that of
the three samples of foreign seed, not one was equal to
the home-grown seed in germinating power.
The climate of the irrigated section of the West seems
well adapted to the production of sugar-beet seed. The
use of irrigation to control the soil moisture and the warm
dry weather during the season when seed is growing make
an almost ideal combination. In the sixteen years since
the Utah Experiment Station began raising sugar-beet
seed, there has not been a single failure.
TYPES OF BEETS
America has produced no distinct varieties or types of
sugar-beets. An examination of almost any commercial
field reveals a great diversity in shape and manner of
growth. Some roots are long and of small diameter;
others are short and turnip-like. The tops vary from
erect plants with big leaves to plants with small leaves
spreading out near the ground. These conditions show
a great admixture of strains.
All of the sugar-beets belong to the same botanical
species, Beta vulgaris. The differences have arisen from
selection of special characters and have given rise to
variation in shape, color, and size of beet, amount and
manner of growth in foliage, as well as in sugar-content
and yield. Selections were always made to improve the
beet, and these selections resulted in considerable variation
in appearance. Trade names have been given to the
various types. Among the most common are : Vilmorin,
220 The Sugar-Beet in America
Kleinwanzlebener, Excelsior, Imperial, Simon-Legrand,
Florimond, Bultean-Desprez Richest, Schrieber, Heine,
Brabant Demesmal, Electoral Elite, Imperator. The
two first-named varieties are most widely known in this
country.
If America is to establish a permanent sugar-beet-seed
industry, one of the first steps will be the production of
strains of beets suited to the needs of the country. With-
out doubt, some of the better European strains will fur-
nish the basis for selection. In any event the work should
be seriously undertaken and continued as long as necessary.
This will require many years of careful work, but the re-
turns probably will justify all the work that is done.
SINGLE-GERM SEED
The fact that the seed-ball contains several germs,
each of which may produce a beet plant, makes the work
of thinning laborious. Even though the seeds are scat-
tered at intervals in the row, the young plants are found
in such clusters that the extra plants can be removed
successfully only by hand. This means that the number
of acres of beets a farmer can raise is usually limited by
the amount of help he can secure at thinning time. It
also means that the expense of thinning is high.
These conditions led the United States Department of
Agriculture, in the early days of the beet-sugar industry,
to conduct rather extensive experiments on the breeding
of strains of beets producing seed-balls that contained
but one germ. Though some progress was made, the
results were not altogether satisfactory and the work was
PLATE XXV. — Above, pedigreed sugar-beets, Utah Experiment Sta-
tion ; center, silos for storing mother beets over winter ; below, stecklinge
being taken from the silo to the field for planting.
Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 221
abandoned. Whether or not the single-germ beet seed
is practical, only the future can demonstrate. There can
be no doubt, however, about the desirability of having
seed of this kind.
BREEDING (PLATE XXV)
There are two distinct phases to the sugar-beet-seed
business : (1) the breeding of desirable strains, and
(2) the commercial production of seed. This is true to
an extent in every branch of plant and animal production.
The man who is engaged in that phase of dairying which
deals with commercial milk production may be entirely
dependent on some breeder of dairy stock for his cows;
likewise, the man who is breeding some new and desirable
type of plant may not be interested in the general seed
trade. The ordinary individual farmer probably will
never take an important part in breeding sugar-beets;
he may, however, engage in the commercial production
of sugar-beet seed, using as his start "mother seed" that
has been produced by a professional breeder.
Chemical test of mothers.
The breeding of sugar-beets is not so simple as that of
most other crops, the quality of which can usually be
determined by examination. With beets, the important
factor, the sugar-content, can be determined only after
making a chemical analysis. Some selection of beets
has been made by specific gravity as determined in a
brine solution. This method, while it indicates to a
certain extent the amount of sugar, is so inexact that it
222 The Sugar-Beet in America
finds very little use. In the standard method of selection
the chemical analysis is used.
The beet to be tested is cleaned and the sample to be
analyzed is obtained by boring a hole diagonally through
the beet near the thickest point in such a way that the
various zones of high and low sugar will be represented.
A given weight of the pulp obtained from the boring is
placed in a dish and the sugar extracted by any one of a
number of methods. The solution containing the sugar
is then placed in a tube which is inserted in a polariscope
by aid of which the percentage is read directly. The
process is not difficult, but it requires skill in laboratory
manipulation and is not adapted to use by the average
farmer. Removing the core does not interfere with the
growth of the beet if it is stored properly.
Steps in selection.
It is not safe to save all beets that are high in sugar
without making further tests to see which ones transmit
this quality. The individual beet may be high in sugar
because of its environment and may not be of a high-
producing strain. For this reason, several years of selec-
tion are required before one can be sure of quality of
seed that will be produced. It is not the mother beet
with high sugar-content that is desired, but the mother
whose progeny will be high in sugar. In testing strains,
it is a good plan to have for comparison standard seed
for growing in different parts of the test field.
The procedure usually carried out is somewhat as
follows: The first year a great many beets of desirable
size and shape are analyzed for sugar. The better in-
Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 223
dividual beets are siloed ; the second year these are planted
separately and the resulting beets analyzed. From this
analysis it is possible to determine which of the original
beets with a high sugar-content are able to transmit to
their progeny this necessary quality. The poor strains
are discarded and the good ones siloed, to be used the
fourth year in producing the "mother seed." The mother
seed is planted the fifth year and the beets obtained from
it produce the commercial seed the sixth year. The part
of the work requiring skill and patience is the obtaining
of dependable mother seed.
In planting beets from which the commercial seed is
produced, the roots are left considerably closer together
in the rows than when regular beets are to be raised.
About eight pounds of seed are used to the acre and the
plants are not thinned in the ordinary way. Sometimes
the plants are thinned to three or four inches apart in
the row and sometimes they are left unthinned. This
method is used in order to save labor in handling the
beets. Less storage space is required for the small beets
than for those of full size. Being small does not seem to
reduce materially the amount of seed produced. These
small beets are called "stecklinge." Beets that are
large are sometimes split lengthwise into two or three
pieces, each of which will grow if part of the live buds in
the crown are retained.
COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF SEED
Siloing.
One of the most important operations in connection
with seed production is the storing over winter, or siloing,
224 The Sugar-Beet in America
of the beets that are to be used the next year in raising
seed. At the Utah Station several methods of siloing
have been tested; a number of these have given good
satisfaction. The important precautions to be kept in
mind are that the beets must not be allowed to dry, to
freeze, or to heat. Sufficient ventilation must be pro-
vided to allow the carbon dioxid produced by normal
respiration to escape and at the same time not enough
to dry the beets. Sufficient covering must be given to
prevent freezing, but not enough to cause heating.
Beets stored in moist sand kept better than by any
other method used, although this method is not practical
except for the comparatively few mother beets that have
been individually analyzed and are more likely to decay
on account of the wound caused when the core is removed
for analysis.
For the great number of beets used in producing com-
mercial seed, perhaps the best way is to silo them in the
field. This is done by piling the beets on top of the ground
or in a shallow trench in ricks four or five feet wide, and
then covering them with soil. Only a light covering is
given at first and more is added as the weather becomes
cooler. In very cold weather manure on top of the silo
is helpful.
Ventilators should be placed in the ricks every few feet
to allow carbon dioxid to escape and fresh air to enter.
Less ventilation is necessary if the remainder of the silo
is left open a few weeks after the beets are placed in it.
If a long rick is made, the beets should be divided every
twelve or fifteen feet in order that if decay begins at any
point it will not destroy all the beets in the silo. Before
Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 225
placing the beets in the silo it is a good plan to remove the
tops, leaving enough of the crown and tops to permit
growth to begin the next spring. If mother beets are
allowed to wilt before they are planted, the yield of seed
is greatly reduced. Likewise, if they are not put into the
silos fresh, the keeping quality is not so good. Beets to
be siloed should usually be left in the fields as long as
possible before digging, keeping in mind the injury that
may result from frost.
The methods of siloing vary considerably with the in-
tensity of the winter cold. In some climates beets live
over winter in the field and will produce seed without
being dug and siloed. This is not the case, however, in
most of the best seed-producing sections. The tempera-
ture of the beets in the silo should be taken at intervals
during the winter to serve as a guide to the amount of
covering needed.
Planting mother beets.
The stecklinge can be planted considerably earlier in
the spring than the best seed, since the old beets are not
as sensitive to frost as are seedlings. It is probably need-
less to say that the land should have been plowed deeply.
Experiments with a number of methods of planting and
distances between plants have been made and the follow-
ing method adopted as a result :
The land is marked each way about thirty inches apart
and a beet dropped at each crossing of the marks. The
best distance apart will, of course, depend on conditions.
A long spade is pushed into the ground and the beet put
in behind or in front of the spade when it is moved for-
Q
226 The Sugar-Beet in America
ward. It is important to plant the beets well below the
surface of the soil. The crown should be covered with
a small quantity of soil to protect the budding top. The
rows being the same distance apart each way, the culti-
vator can be run in two directions and much hand labor
thereby saved. In many cases no attempt is made to
provide for two-way cultivation; the beets are merely
planted every twenty to thirty inches apart in rows that
are about three feet apart. Sometimes a furrow is made
with a plow or deep cultivator and the beets planted in
it.
The South Dakota Station 1 reports using a machine
for transplanting beets in 1916. It was an adapted
planter similar to those used in transplanting tobacco;
it was also used in transplanting alfalfa roots. "This is
a two-wheeled machine with one shovel to open the
furrows, two boxes to hold the beets and three seats, one
for the driver and two for the beet droppers. Wings draw
the dirt around the beets as they are dropped. A pair of
rollers to firm the dirt around the beets would make a
great improvement. About two or two and a half acres
a day was the rate achieved in the trials." It seems
probable that some machine will be devised to reduce the
great amount of hand labor required in planting mother
beets.
Care of seed crop during growth.
When seed is raised under irrigation, it seems advisable
to apply water very soon after the beets are planted in
1 Shephard, J. H., South Dakota Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 173.
(1917), p. 615.
I
1
Production of Sugar-Beet Seed 227
order that the soil may be firmed around the roots and
also to insure an early starting of growth. Two or three
additional irrigations are usually ample to mature the
seed crop. The soil should have sufficient moisture while
the seed is forming. Early cultivation is desirable to
keep weeds in check as they are much more easily killed
at this time. After the seed-stalks become too large, it
is difficult to get through the field with a cultivator ; un-
less weeds have been kept in check up to this tune, they
may prove troublesome and may need to be removed by
hand. In any case, late hoeing may be desirable.
Harvesting and threshing. (Plate XXVI.)
Since the seed does not ripen evenly, it is necessary to
go over the field and cut some of the plants before all are
ripe. This is not practical when seed is raised on a large
scale. The ripening period may extend over a number of
weeks. The cutting is done with a sickle and the seed-
stalks piled in the field to dry before threshing. It
usually pays to go over the field after harvest with a brush
and dustpan to glean seed that has fallen to the ground in
cutting. Threshing can be performed with an ordinary
grain thresher with the speed retarded, special screens,
and certain adjustments. Special threshers may also be
procured. From fifteen to twenty tons of seed can be
threshed in a day.
After the seed is threshed, some dirt and stems always
remain. These are best removed by running the seed
over a revolving canvas, which allows the seed to roll off
and at the same time carries the stems away. The dirt
and chaff are removed with a fanning mill before the seed
228 The Sugar-Beet in America
is run over the canvas. The seed-cleaning machines may
be purchased, or one may be made at home for about
$100. A good machine will clean about a ton of seed in a
day.
By-products.
After the seed crop is harvested, the beets and part of
the stems and leaves still remain in the field. The beets
contain considerable sugar, although much less than at
first. They have, however, acquired a woody texture
that renders them much less palatable to stock than the
fresh beets. A number of cases have been reported of
animals dying as a result of accumulated balls of this
fibrous material in the digestive tract when fed too many
of these beets. They have been used in many other cases
without any apparent ill effects. The method of utiliz-
ing these beets most economically is not known, but it
is probable that the cheapest way is to have stock pasture
on these old roots directly in the field similar to hogging-
off corn. They can be used safely and economically in
this way to supplement other feeds.
Yields and profits.
The amount of seed produced varies greatly under dif-
ferent conditions. If all the plants give a normal yield,
the amount of seed that would be expected theoretically
would be several times the yield actually realized in
practice. One of the chief causes for this is that a large
number of the plants never send up seed-stalks, but
throughout the summer merely develop a dense growth
of leaves.
Production of Sugar-Beet Seed
229
At the Utah Station tests running for nine years gave
the following yield of seed from the individual plants :
TABLE X. — AVERAGE WEIGHT OF SEED PRODUCED BY MOTHER
BEETS
YBAB
NUMBER MOTHERS
TESTED
AVERAGE WEIGHT OF
SEED PER BEET (grams)4
1905
309
368.9
1906 ....
66
356.5
1907
178
714.6
1908
200
722.6
1909
395
405.0
1910
348
282.3
1911
470
374.3
1912
135
393.4
1913
53
263.7
Average . . .
431.2
An acre of land contains about 7000 mother beets. If
each one produced as much as the average reported above,
nearly 7000 pounds of seed to the acre might be expected.
This, however, is not approached in practice. The yield
is usually between 1000 and 2000 pounds to the acre. A
yield greater than 2000 pounds is exceptional. The
average yield of seed for the United States for 1916 and
1917 was about 1100 pounds to the acre.
The fields of commercial seed raised by the Utah Ex-
periment Station at Logan have given the following yields
during the years 1912 to 1917 inclusive :
1 There are 453 grams in one pound.
230
The Sugar-Beet in America
TABLE XI. — YIELD TO THE ACRE OF SUGAR-BEET SEED, LOGAN,
UTAH
YEAB
POUNDS OP BEET SEED TO THE ACRE
1912
,190
1913
354
1914
571
1915
,868
1916
,558
1917
,223
Average
1,461
At a price of fifteen cents a pound for the seed, the re-
turn for an acre is $219.15.
The cost of producing this seed varies so much with
conditions that definite figures are almost useless, but the
following figures for cost are suggestive :
TABLE XII. — ESTIMATED COST OF RAISING ONE ACRE OF
SUGAR-BEET SEED
Rent of land (value $250 an acre) . .
Plowing and preparing land ....
Hauling stecklinge from silo and planting
Cultivating and irrigating
Hoeing
Cutting seed
Threshing and cleaning
Cost of mother seed and stecklinge . .
$ 20.00
5.00
15.00
6.00
2.00
5.00
15.00
40.00
Total $108.00
A comparison of these figures for cost with the price
obtained for seed shows that a good profit may be made.
This profit, taken with the fact that domestic seed is better
than the imported, surely justifies the establishment of a
sugar-beet-seed industry in America.
CHAPTER XVI
COST OF PRODUCING BEETS
No phase of the beet-sugar industry is more elusive
than the cost of producing beets. The costs involved in
slicing the beets, extracting the sugar, evaporating the
juice, and handling the sugar can be determined with
considerable accuracy; under normal conditions, these
manufacturing processes are fairly constant in their cost.
The cost of raising beets, on the other hand, is exceed-
ingly variable from field to field and from year to year.
Cost determinations are usually made on the basis of an
acre of beets; but a much more useful figure would be
the cost of a ton of beets, or even better, the beet-cost
entering into a hundred pounds of sugar. The costs
reported thus far have been worked out largely from the
standpoint of the dollar basis. They have been arrived
at without making a detailed study of the hours of man
and horse labor that enter into the production of the crop
or without including in every case definite information
with reference to other items of cost that form a part of
the account.
NEED FOR LOW COST
The permanency of the beet-sugar industry in any
country depends on the ability of farmers to produce
23]
232 The Sugar-Beet in America
beets at a low cost. In unusual times and when sugar is
scarce and high priced, it may be manufactured at a
profit even if the beets are not raised in an efficient manner
and if the cost of production is high; but if conditions
throughout the world become balanced, beet-sugar will
not be able to compete with cane-sugar, even though the
former may enjoy a limited protection. The life of the
industry depends on the efficiency of the beet farmer, who
should seek in every way to reduce costs rather than to
increase them. The process of extracting sugar from beets
has reached a high state of perfection. The farmer should
try to make his methods equally perfect.
The constant friction between the farmer and the sugar
company regarding the price of beets causes the farmer
to make his costs seem as high as possible, whereas the
manufacturer wants them to be low. This leads to con-
siderable discrepancy in estimates of costs and makes it
more difficult to determine actual costs. The profit-
sharing plans for paying for beets, which are being dis-
cussed more each year, will necessitate definite cost figures
being obtained, not only for the making of sugar, but also
for the raising of beets. Farmer and manufacturer alike
should be interested in keeping the cost of both phases of
the industry as low as possible in order that each may
obtain the greatest profit.
Practically the entire world's supply of sugar under
normal conditions comes from countries such as Cuba,
Java, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, and Russia,
where labor is much cheaper than in the United States.
If we are to produce sugar in competition, it is essential
that our labor be made as efficient as possible by the use of
Cost of Producing Beets 233
machinery and the application of scientific methods to
the farm. It will also be necessary to raise sugar-beets
in the parts of the country best adapted to their growth.
It is on the farm that this greater efficiency must be
sought, since the price paid for the beets is the chief item
of expense involved in the cost of beet-sugar.
DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING COSTS
It is often asserted that beet producers are receiving
abnormal profits for their crops ; and about equally often
the beet-growers contend that there is no profit in raising
beets, or that if all costs were considered the crop is
ordinarily produced at a loss. Data to prove either con-
tention can be gathered from both large and small farms.
In some communities only a very few farmers can pro-
duce beets at a profit when the average for a number of
years is taken. Naturally, in such places, beets become
unpopular and conclusive results can be given to show
that beets are unprofitable; in a more favored locality,
the opposite can be shown as readily.
It is highly desirable to find unbiased results that will
show the true condition for the sugar-beet producers of
the country as a whole, for each locality, and for each
individual farm. At present such data have not been
determined satisfactorily. Much valuable material has
been compiled to show the costs, but since many factors
are unfortunately left out of most of these compilations,
they do not represent the true cost. Results in this re-
gard, as reported from experiments on a small scale,
generally show high yields and a high labor cost, indicat-
234 The Sugar-Beet in America
ing that more care has been taken than could be reasonably
expected in ordinary farm practice. Often such costs as
land rent and depreciation of machinery are omitted
entirely. Estimates from farmers are usually unsatis-
factory because very few keep accurate accounts of the
various small items. Reports from farmers, in order to
be reliable, must be taken systematically and carefully,
and the number of farmers interviewed must be large if
error is to be reduced to a minimum.
Except for general study, it is imperative that all con-
ditions be given in order that a true interpretation can
be made, since cost of labor, nature of soil, efficiency in
work, thoroughness of method, and numerous other
factors vary so much that general estimates are of little
value. Many of the figures available are for only one
season, and it is well known that costs and yields vary
greatly with the year.
COST OF GROWING IN VARIOUS SECTIONS
When averages of a large number of growers are taken,
the cost of producing beets is nearly equal to the price
received for them, all factors being considered. A slight
profit would be expected if the true averages were available,
because in general the farmers of the older beet-growing
sections consider the crop worth while. The profitable-
ness of a crop is usually indicated by the readiness with
which the farmers grow it ; and farmers are usually glad
to raise beets.
The Federal Trade Commission in 1917 made a "Re-
port on the Beet Sugar Industry in the United States."
Cost of Producing Beets
235
This study covered practically every beet-producing
section in the United States. Estimated costs were ob-
tained from many farmers in each district. These are
summarized by states in Fig. 28. Since the data were
carefully collected and compiled, they may be considered
Jo** !"*"!•
FIG. 28. — Diagram of costs involved in producing sugar-beets in
various states. (Compiled from Report of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion, May 24, 1917.)
to be approximately correct for the districts and for the
costs during that year (1913) at least. The figure shows
the cost, including the following items : soil preparation,
hand labor, planting and cultivating, lifting and hauling,
fertilizing, seed, and irrigation; but it omits the rental
value of the land and depreciation of machinery, ditches,
fences, and the like. The item of land rent is important
in considering cost of production, for it is ordinarily from
one-sixth to one-fourth of the value of the crop. That the
236 The Sugar-Beet in America
value of the farms studied in this survey were above the
ordinary beet land is seen from the fact that the yields
reported average in the neighborhood of one-third
higher than the yields for states as reported from other
sources.1
In addition to the rental cost, there should be added
from 3 to 10 per cent of the costs mentioned for taxes,
depreciation on machinery, and other incidentals. Then
about 6 or 7 per cent of the cost as given should be added
to account for crop failures or acreages not harvested,
if the true cost is to be found. Keeping this in mind when
studying the gross returns from the crop and the yield to
the acre represented in columns two and three of the chart,
it will be seen that beets on the better class of land in
most of the states yield a profit under normal conditions.
It is evident, however, that the true net returns are not
so great as one is sometimes led to believe from incom-
plete costs. The cost data are not complete enough to
draw satisfactory conclusions, because we do not know
whether the land represented in the high-producing states
— Utah, Idaho, California, and Colorado — was on the
200- to 300-dollar-an-acre land that rents for fifteen to
twenty dollars an acre each year, or whether the low-
producing states represented the 100- to 200-dollar-an-
acre land drawing a rent of six to ten dollars an acre.
But it appears that the profit to the acre from the crop
increases rather strikingly as the yield increases above a
minimum point. The larger yields in the West permit
more care to be given economically to the crop as the
yield increases; or rather, the high wages and other
1 U. S. Dept. of Agri. Yearbook (1913), p. 447.
Cost of Producing Beets 237
costs in the West can be paid because the yields are high
enough to cover them, and still leave a profit.
The results are interesting in that they show the re-
lation of yield to the various factors of production in the
different localities, although it should be remembered
that climatic and soil factors are much more important
in determining the profitableness of beets than is labor.
The cultural practices, except special operations such as
irrigation, are thought, on an average, not to differ so
widely in the different states as do wages. It will be
noticed that the costs of hand labor and lifting and hauling
the beets vary somewhat according to yield and that the
greatest variations are in the cost of lifting and hauling.
Since the cost of harvesting is known to constitute from
one-fifth to one-third of the total cost of growing beets,
this is to be expected. This increases somewhat with
the yield.
RELATION OF NUMBER OF ACRES RAISED TO COST AND
PROFIT
By arranging the data from the above survey in Table
XIII, according to the number of acres of beets grown, it
is found that the acreage of beets has but little influence
on the cost of production, farms with only a few acres of
beets producing them as economically as those with over
a hundred acres. Farm surveys in general show that the
larger farms up to a certain point are the more efficient ;
this is thought to hold good with beet farms as well as
others. A survey in Utah indicated that the proportion
of the land devoted to beets increased as the profitable-
238
The Sugar-Beet in America
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Cost of Producing Beets
239
ness of the farm decreased, but the acres of beets grown
increased as the profitableness of the farm increases.
Therefore, the only conclusion that may be drawn from
these data is that both good and poor farmers grow large
and small acreages of beets. It is regretted that the rental
value of the land was not taken in the survey, because
this, it is thought, would modify considerably the results
on this point, as the size of the farms varied considerably
in the different districts and the rental value would have
varied in the same way. »
Moorhouse 1 and his associates in the Office of Farm
Management, United States Department of Agriculture,
have obtained some interesting figures on the relation of
acreage and yield to costs. The results are given in
Tables XIV and XV.
These figures show that in each of the areas under in-
vestigation the yield to the acre exerted a very important
influence on the cost of producing a ton of beets.
TABLE XIV. — RELATION OF ACREAGE AND YIELD PER ACRE
TO COST PER ACRE AND PER TON. UTAH AND IDAHO
10 TONS OR LESS
11 TO 15 TONS
16 TONS AND OVER
«|
Per
Per
o§
Per
Per
'o |
Per
Per
6*1
Acre
Ton
rfj
Acre
Ton
rfj
Acre
Ton
fc£
fcfe
£fe
10 acres or less
12
$62.59
$8.65
17
$72.47
$5.53
29
$75.70
$4.12
11 to 20 acres .
14
59.04
6.69
24
66.87
5.01
32
71.81
3.93
21 acres and over
8
60.20
6.22
18
64.70
4.85
19
70.19
4.02
1 Correspondence with the author. Also see U. S. Dept. of
Agr., Bui. No. 693 for additional figures,
240
The Sugar-Beet in America
TABLE XV. — RELATION OF ACREAGE AND YIELD PER ACRE
TO COST PER ACRE AND PER TON. COLORADO
10 TONS OR LESS
11 TO 15 TONS
16 TONS AND OVER
»l
Per
Per
,1
Per
Per
"o g
Per
Per
II
Acre
Ton
II
Acre
Ton
ll
Acre
Ton
10 acres or less
12
$72.31
$7.72
23
$71.90
$5.64
24
$83.22
$4.87
11 to 20 acres .
10
62.38
7.92
46
66.77
4.99
40
78.25
4.42
21 to 40 acres .
21
57.35
6.30
80
65.78
4.99
56
75.09
4.21
41 acres and over
1
49.85
4.92
33
63.86
4.68
21
75.82
4.43
The relation between size of farm, area of beets planted,
and labor income on 276 Utah farms is shown in Table
XVI. The table shows that the labor income of farmers
raising sugar-beets is higher than that of farmers not
raising them. This is probably due as much to secondary
profits, discussed in Chapter XII, as to direct returns
from beets. On the average the yield was slightly higher
on the medium-sized farms than on the very large or the
very small ones.
COST BASED ON TIME
Because the prices paid for labor vary so much in dif-
ferent regions, it is impossible to give money costs that
apply to all conditions. The length of time required in
performing the various operations should be approxi-
mately the same. This offers a means of securing definite
figures which may be computed for each region by using
the price of man and horse labor that prevails.
Cost of Producing Beets
241
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25988
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242
The Sugar-Beet in America
Peck,1 in Minnesota, has made a rather careful study of
the cost of producing beets in that state, which unfortu-
nately does not represent an important beet-producing
area. Figs. 29, 30. Table XVII, taken from his work,
gives the total man hours to produce an acre of beets
as 155.4 and the horse hours as 110.7. The time spent
on the various operations is also shown :
TABLE XVII. — LABOR REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING SUGAR-
BEETS 2
TOTAL
HOURS P
ER ACRE
ACRES
Man
Horse
833.9
9.9
21.7
Plowing
1426.0
4.4
13.1
Disking
1134.0
2.3
8.2
1451.4
1.1
2.9
Planking
559.5
.9
2.1
Seeding ....
1458.4
1.3
2.6
1447.4
11.1
17.2
Bunching and thinning
Hoeing
462.1
44.2
21 0
Pulling and topping . .
Lifting
1458.4
37.8
3.5
6.7
Hauling
1458.4
17.9
36.2
Total
155.4
110.7
1 Peck, F. W., "The Cost of Producing Sugar Beets," Minn.
Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 154 (1916).
2 Not contract labor. On an average the land was disked
2.4 times ; harrowed, 2.3 times ; cultivated, 5.2 times ; and hoed,
1.4 times.
Cost of Producing Beets
243
Mendelson 1 reports as follows results of a hearing
before the United States Food Administration at Fort
Morgan, Colorado, in 1918, on the work required in
raising sugar-beets :
FIG. 29. — Man labor on sugar-beets. (F. W. Peck.)
"Spreading manure. Two men, four horses, and
spreader will spread 20 beet boxes of manure on two
acres in one day.
"Crowning alfalfa (once in 4 years). One man and
five horses will crown three and one-half acres per day.
"Harrowing the crowning twice (once in 4 years). One
man and three horses will harrow twenty acres per day.
"Floating the crowning (once in 4 years). One man
and four horses will float 15 acres per day.
1 Mendelson, H.,
(April, 1918).
A Day's Work,': Sugar, Vol. 20, p. 140
244 The Sugar-Beet in America
"Plowing. One man and five horses will plow two
acres per day.
"Harrowing. One man and three horses will harrow
sixteen acres per day.
"Floating. One man and four horses will float 10 acres
per day.
FIG. 30. — Distribution of cost of sugar-beet production. (F. W. Peck.)
"Planting. One man and two horses will plant nine
acres per day.
"Rolling. One man and two horses will roll 14 acres
per day.
"Cultivating. One man and two horses will cultivate
eight acres per day.
"Furrowing. One man and two horses will furrow 15
acres per day.
"Irrigating. One man in twenty-four hours will irri-
gate eight acres.
Cost of Producing Beets
245
" Plowing out. One man and four horses will plow out
2^ acres per day.
"Hauling. One man and four horses will haul twelve
tons per day.
"According to this schedule, the number of man and
horse hours required per acre of beets for work done every
year is as follows :
HOURS P
ER ACRE
:
Men
Horses
Spreading manure
100
200
Plowing
5.0
25.0
Harrowing three times . . .
Floating two times
1.9
2.0
1.1
5.7
8.0
2.21
Rolling
07
1 4
Cultivating four times . . .
5.0
0.7
10.0
1.4
Irrigating 2£ times
Plowing out
7.5
4.4
17.6
Hauling (12 tons)
100
400
Total
483
131 3
"In addition to this in the above schedule, it is calcu-
lated that alfalfa is broken every fourth year, and that,
therefore, one-fourth of the time required to break an
acre of alfalfa should be charged against every year's
beet crop.
"The total work required to break an acre of alfalfa,
according to this schedule, is as follows :
246
The Sugar-Beet in America
MEN HOUBS
HOUSE HOURS
Crowning
2.9
145
1 0
30
Floating once
0.7
2.8
Total
4.6
20 3
"One-fourth of this is, 1.2 men hours and 5.1 horse
hours. This added to the regular work gives 49.5 men
hours and 136.3 horse hours.
"This means that on a 25-acre patch of beets you will
have to spend 1207.5 hours of work, or 120.75 working
days of 10 hours, during a growing season for this work,
and your horses will have performed 3410 hours, or 341
days of 10 hours each, or if you have 6 horses, each horse
has averaged 57 days' work during the growing season
on 25 acres of beets."
L. A. Moorhouse 1 found the following for man and horse
labor in producing one acre of beets :
TABLE XVIII. — INFORMATION PERTAINING TO PRACTICE AND
COST OP PRODUCTION OF SUGAR-BEETS. (1914-1915)
ITEM
PROVO DIS-
TRICT, UTAH
'GARLAND DIS-
TRICT, UTAH
IDAHO FALLS
DISTRICT,
IDAHO
No. of operators reporting
58
79
36
No. of acres grown . .
833
1461
735
Yield to the acre . . .
14.9 tons
14.8 tons
13.6 tons
Hours of man labor . .
130.8
133.3
119.4
Hours of horse labor . .
117.1
98.5
79.3
1 Correspondence with the author.
Cost of Producing Beets 247
Commenting on this, Moorhouse says : " Labor was by
far the most important item in this study. The total
labor cost under the rates that prevailed in 1914-1915
varied from $35.25 an acre to $40.18. These sums con-
stituted from 54.4 to 58.3 per cent of the total cost of
production."
Although the different figures given above do not agree
entirely, they are all suggestive and will be of assistance
to any one who wishes to compute costs for his own neigh-
borhood.
The beet farmers and sugar companies of Utah and
Idaho agreed on the following schedule for contract hand
labor for each acre during 1918: Thinning, $8; first
hoeing, $3 ; second hoeing, $2, — or $26 for all hand
labor based on a twelve-ton crop with one dollar extra
for each additional ton and seventy-five cents less for
each ton decrease in yield.
EXAMPLES OF ACRE-COST
Blakey l has made rather extensive investigations of
the cost of producing sugar based on^ reports of farmers,
actual field tests, and work of the experiment stations.
His findings are summed up in Table XIX. In the table
he does not include the cost of land, rent, taxes, and the
like, which would probably be between $15 and $20,
making the total cost about $75. The figures are fairly
accurate for the dates represented, but they are doubt-
less too low for war-time prices of labor and materials.
1 Blakey, R. G., "The United States Beet-Sugar Industry and
the Tariff" (1912), pp. 113-140 and pp. 267-273.
248
The Sugar-Beet in America
TABLE XIX. — COSTS OP GROWING BEETS, ACTUAL AND ESTI-
MATED (BLAKEY)
1905-1906
ACTUAL CROPS
3-YEAR AVER-
AGE (COLO-
RADO)
ESTIMATED
NORMAL AVER-
AGE AFTER
THIS
EXPERIENCE
Labor costs
Plowing and preparation for same .
Harrowing leveling etc ....
$ 4.06
275
$ 4.00
250
Seeding
57
45
3.64
3.25
Irrigating
242
225
SDraviner
22
7.42
7.25
Hoeing . ...
296
285
ToDDiner
870
800
Pulling .
2.16
2.00
Hauling
841
750
Siloing
1.15
1.00
Other costs
Seed
1.87
1.85
Dump
.77
.75
Blacksmithing and repairs . . .
1.15
.39
1.00
.50
. Implement depreciation (estimated)
Interest, crop investment (esti-
mated)
2.56
1.33
2.00
1.30
Subtotals . .
(52 53)
(48 45)
Water rates
1 40
1.40
Management and supervision (esti-
mated) .
3 19
250
Totals1
$57.12
$52.35
Rpiyfj ryn land tRYP^! ptp
1 Does not include rent, interest on money invested in land,
or taxes. However, this expenditure would produce more than
the present normal yield for the country.
Cost of Producing Beets 249
In many districts farmers maintain that the cost of
producing an acre of beets is over $100. This is prob-
ably much more than the farmer ordinarily spends, and
includes every expenditure that would be made in pro-
ducing a maximum crop. The farmer does not of course
commonly go to this amount of trouble and expense ; he
is usually satisfied to do a moderate amount of work and
to secure an acre-yield somewhere near the average.
No accurate figures have been compiled for the cost of
producing a ton of beets or for producing the beets neces-
sary to make one hundred pounds of sugar. This phase
of the cost of beet production deserves more attention on
the part of students of beet-sugar economics.
CHAPTER XVII
BEET RAISING AND COMMUNITY WELFARE
IN considering the value of the beet-sugar industry to
the community, the indirect benefits of raising beets, as
well as the direct value of the crop, should be considered.
Those who have made a careful study of the subject are
agreed that the introduction of sugar-beets into the
agriculture of a region results in good in many ways.
In the European countries where beet raising has seen
its greatest development, agriculture has a stability not
found in the newer countries where sugar-beets have not
been introduced.
Palmer l says : " For fifteen years I have made a per-
sonal study of the sugar industry in the United States,
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, France, Belgium,
Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and some portions of the
tropics. In the above named countries of Europe, I
have met or studied the writings of their leading agricul-
turists, economists, and other thinking men, and without
exception they state that the culture of sugar-beets
raises the standard of their agricultural methods as does
no other crop, rids their fields of noxious growth, puts
1 Palmer, Truman G., Journal of the National Institute of
Social Sciences, July, 1916.
250
Beet Raising and Community Welfare 251
their soil in better condition, increases by 25 to 80 per
cent the acreage yield of all other crops grown in rota-
tion, and annually saves them from sending several hun-
dred million dollars to the tropics to purchase a neces-
sary food commodity. In no beet country visited was
there found a disposition to regret its establishment or
the money it cost to establish it. Germany alone spent
over $351,000,000 in export bounties in order to encourage
the industry."
STABILITY TO AGRICULTURE
Wherever the beet-sugar industry is permanently es-
tablished, agriculture reaches a greater stability than it
had previously. The fact that the farmer has a sure
market for his crop at a price known in advance enables
him to judge more accurately the value of the land. Ex-
perience shows the approximate yield of beets he may
expect; and since he knows the costs of producing the
crop and the returns he is likely to receive from it, he Is
able to calculate rather accurately how much he can af-
ford to pay for beet land of known quality. This re-
duces the rapid fluctuation in the price of land that is
often met in regions where profits are less certain.
In areas where crops have no regular cash market, it
is difficult to obtain stability to the agriculture. Many
fruit-producing sections boom during years of good market,
and land prices become greatly inflated. This condition
may be followed by a series of years when no market can
be secured or when the crop is a failure due to frost or
some other unfavorable condition. The result is that
252 The Sugar-Beet in America
many farmers fail and have to sell the farm at a loss and
seek employment elsewhere. Farming under these up-
and-down conditions is not satisfactory. The introduc-
tion of beet raising into the farming system tends to over-
come this variation. Fruit raising may yield higher
profits during favorable years, but the uncertainty of its
returns is not attractive to the conservative farmer and,
therefore, not conducive to permanent agriculture.
PROMOTES GOOD FARMING
The raising of sugar-beets is not consistent with poor
farming. Rye may be raised on land that is merely
scratched ; it needs but little attention in addition to the
work of planting and harvesting. Sugar-beets, on the
other hand, cannot be raised without careful attention
being given to every operation, from plowing to the de-
livery of the crop at the factory. The expense of pro-
ducing the crop is so great that the farmer cannot afford
to neglect any phase of the work; carelessness in thin-
ning may reduce the returns by several times the amount
of the cost of thinning. The farmer cannot afford to
allow weeds to grow, since these pests reduce the yield
not only by using moisture and plant-food needed by the
crop, but they cause a decrease in sugar formation by
shading the beet leaves. In a cheaper crop, the cost of
keeping weeds under complete control might not justify
the expense; but in beet fields weeds cause greater in-
jury than the expense of removing them. Thus, in
every phase of sugar-beet farming, thoroughness is de-
manded. This is certain to reflect in the raising of other
Beet Raising and Community Welfare 253
crops and to cause a general improvement in the agricul-
ture of the section.
INCREASES CROP YIELDS
Statistics l show an increase in the yield of crops in
every country where the raising of sugar-beets has been
introduced. This is not due to any plant-food added to
the soil by the beet plant, for it adds none, but is the re-
sult of the good tillage methods necessary to successful
beet-culture. The fleshy tap-root of the beet penetrates
deeply into the soil, which it loosens and allows to be-
come thoroughly aerated. Any tendency to the formation
of a "plow sole" is overcome, and there is a thorough
mixing of the soil and the upper subsoil.
Beets require deep plowing in preparation for the crop ;
they are given constant cultivation during the growing
period ; and at harvest tune the land is stirred deeply in
removing the beets. This cultivation is paid for by the
beet crop, but it also improves the condition of the soil
for the crop that follows to such a marked degree that the
yield is decidedly increased.
Pure sugar takes no fertility from the land ; conse-
quently, if all of the by-products of the beet-sugar indus-
try are returned to the land, its fertility can be maintained
readily. With most other crops, the marketable part
contains large quantities of the mineral plant-foods. Of
1 A great many figures on this subject have been compiled by
Truman G. Palmer and published in his pamphlet entitled
" Sugar at a Glance " — U. S. Senate Document No. 890, 62d
Congress (1912).
254 The Sugar-Beet in America
course, it is not practical to return all by-products to the
land, but with care the greater part may be conserved.
The increased yield in crops brought about by beet
raising is due in part to the better farming methods dis-
cussed in the previous section.
In order to realize the full value of sugar-beets in in-
creasing crop yields, it is necessary to have well-planned
rotations supplemented by an economical use of farm
manure or other fertilizing materials. The high yields of
European countries would not be possible without scien-
tific rotations and the extensive use of manures.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE
The beet-sugar industry is based on technical skill.
The breeding of strains of beets high in sugar calls for
special training in the principles of breeding. Many
chemists are needed to analyze the mother beets and special
skill is required in the field work. In the making of sugar
from beets, engineers, chemists, and other technically
trained men are required. This means that any com-
munity having a beet-sugar factory must have trained
men to carry on the industry. This necessity so promotes
education that sugar-beet production has a direct educa-
tional value to any community.
Farmers take up better business methods, being en-
couraged to keep records by cost of labor, cash product,
contract crop, and contract labor, also because of its being
one of two or three general crops that can pay on high-
priced land.
Beet Raising and Community Welfare 255
EMPLOYMENT FOR CHILDREN
In raising sugar-beets, considerable hand labor is re-
quired. Much of this work can be done well by children ;
in fact, children often can thin beets better and more
rapidly than their parents. They can be used to ad-
vantage also in weeding and in topping. This means that
in regions where sugar-beets are raised, children who go to
school during the winter can earn good wages in vacation
times.
In many irrigated districts of the West, where most of
the sugar-beets of America are produced, persons live in
towns and not on their farms. These towns provide many
children who have no regular employment in the summer.
These small communities lack the industries found in
the large cities. Many of the inhabitants do not have
land of their own ; as a result, their children are idle when
not in school. If the farms of the region produce only
hay and grain, no work is available for children ; but when
sugar-beets are added, these young persons find healthful
and paying employment instead of spending the summer
on the streets. In this, as in other work for children,
care must be taken to avoid the evils of child labor.
WINTER EMPLOYMENT
In all the farming communities work is more pressing
in the summer than in the winter. In order to have suf-
ficient help to care for crops during the busy season,
there is an excess at other times. This means that or-
dinarily some of the hands are idle and that winter wages
are low.
256 The Sugar- Beet in America
If there is a sugar factory in the community, it uses a
great number of men in the winter and the congestion is
relieved. Those who would otherwise be idle are given
employment and the entire winter wage scale for the com-
munity is advanced.
CENTRALIZED POPULATION
Sugar-beet raising calls for intensive farming. A given
area of land producing beets will give employment to
several times as many men as the same area devoted to
hay or grain. With sugar-beets as an important crop,
the farmer does not require so large an acreage in order to
make a living as would be necessary with many other
crops. This means that sugar-beet farming promotes a
denser population. This has many advantages. It
makes possible better educational facilities and more
desirable social opportunities, thereby reducing to a
minimum some of the chief disadvantages of farm life.
i
INCREASES OTHER BUSINESS
The raising of sugar-beets and the manufacture of
sugar from them bring increased business to many other
industries not directly connected with the farmer or the
sugar factory. Thus, every community in which the
beet-sugar industry is established has the pulse of its en-
tire business quickened thereby. Railroads receive much
traffic in transporting beets, lime, sugar, machinery, and
the many other commodities that are incidental to sugar-
making. Bank clearings are increased by the money
paid for beets and supplies and that received for sugar.
Beet Raising and Community Welfare 257
The live-stock business is advanced by the cheap feeds
resulting as by-products of beet raising and sugar-making.
Several secondary manufacturing industries also grow out
of the use of sugar-house products. All business is en-
hanced by the presence of a sugar factory.
NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE
Perhaps the most important contribution of the beet-
sugar industry to community welfare comes in the greater
degree of national independence that it insures. In
modern days, sugar has come to be a food necessity. Its
high food value, its palatability, and the ease with which it
fits into the human ration make it almost indispensable.
The European war taught us much concerning the hard-
ship that may result from a shortage of sugar.
Any nation that finds itself dependent on some other
nation for so important a commodity as sugar cannot
boast that it is really independent. In time of war when
an old supply is likely to be shut off, the nation that does
not produce its own sugar may find itself seriously handi-
capped. The beet-sugar industry owes its origin to just
such a condition. Later international troubles have shown
that preparation for an emergency of this kind must be made
in times of peace ; it is too late after fighting has begun.
It now seems evident that, aside from other consider-
ations, the American beet-sugar industry should be en-
larged as a matter of national preparedness. The Amer-
ican people cannot afford to place themselves at the mercy
of a possible enemy by not having at home a source of
sugar sufficient to meet their needs in times of war.
CHAPTER XVIII
SUGAR-MAKING
THE processes involved in the manufacture of beet-
sugar have undergone a great change in a little more than
a hundred years since the industry was first established.
At first it was difficult to secure a good product and only
a small percentage of the sugar in the beet could be re-
covered as refined sugar. Improvement in manufactur-
ing processes has gone hand in hand with the breeding of
a higher grade of beets in making possible the extension
of the beet-sugar industry. The making of beet-sugar
involves a number of rather complex problems in physics,
chemistry, and engineering; and since it is beyond the
scope of this book to go thoroughly into these technical
questions, only a brief description of the process of sugar-
making will be given. The following well-defined stages
are involved in the process : (1) storing and cleaning of
beets, (2) extraction of juice, (3) purification of juice,
(4) formation of grain, (5) partial drying, (6) final drying,
and (7) packing the sugar.
STORING THE BEETS
After the beets are received by the sugar company, it
is often necessary to store them for some time before they
258
Sugar-Making
are sliced. If this is
done at the factory,
bins are usually avail-
able. These are so
arranged that the
beets can be worked
with the least amount
of handling. Where
cars are not available
for immediate trans-
portation, the beets
must be stored in
the districts where
they are raised. This
is usually done in
large piles near the
weighing station and
dump.
The loss during
storage is due to res-
piration, which is
greatly increased as
the temperature rises.
This means that in
sections where the
temperature is high
at harvest tune, the
beets must be sliced
within a few days
after they are dug.
In sections where
260 The Sugar-Beet in America
the temperature is cool at the time of harvest and where
severe cold is not experienced, large uncovered heaps are
to be preferred to all other methods of storage, since
little expense is involved and the loss of sugar is slight.
Beets are not injured by temperatures slightly below
freezing when they thaw out slowly ; consequently, only
those lying on the very outside of the heap will be injured
by frost. A light frost will result in no injury whatever.
Care must be taken to see that these heaps do not
begin to heat. If heating begins, the pile must be opened
and the decaying beets removed.
Beets stored at the factory are placed in V-shaped bins,
the bottom of which is a flume covered with removable
boards. By taking out these boards one at a time, the
beets drop into a swift stream of water and are carried
to the factory.
WASHING AND WEIGHING
The first step in preparing the beets for the factory is
to remove rocks, sand, weeds, and other foreign material
that might interfere with slicing. This foreign material
is removed by a set of special devices shown in Fig. 31,
after which the beets are carried up to the washer. The
mechanical washer consists of a tank in which arms keep
up an agitation in such a way that all dirt not removed
while the beets were being carried by the stream of water
into the factory is washed off. The beets after being
thoroughly cleaned are elevated to a scale which weighs
and records automatically. They are now ready to be
sliced.
PLATE XXVII. — Above, view of top of diffusion battery; below, car-
bonation and sulfur tanks where the warm raw juice is purified. (Cour-
tesy Truman G. Palmer.)
Sugar-Making 261
SLICING AND EXTRACTION
The chief object sought in slicing is to obtain as large
a surface as possible and at the same time to leave the
pieces of beet in such a condition that they will not pack
into a mass through which water will not pass readily.
Many kinds of slicing knives are used, but all cut the
beets into long thin strips called "cossettes." These are
so thin that the sugar contained in the cells of the root
can readily diffuse out into the water with which the cos-
settes are treated in the diffusion batteries. The cor-
rugated slicing knives revolve rapidly and are able to
handle large quantities of beets.
The cossettes pass from the knives to the cells of the
diffusion battery, shown in Plate XXVII. These are large
iron containers, cylindrical in shape, and terminating in
truncated cones having covers; they are arranged in a
circle or in a straight line. The series usually contains
from ten to fourteen of these tanks. Each is so con-
nected at the bottom by means of a pipe with the top
of the next in the series that a continual flow of warm
water passes through the cossettes as long as they remain
in the battery. The batteries are so arranged that the
container which has had its charge for the longest time
receives the fresh water, which removes the last bit of
sugar that can be extracted. The pulp from which the
sugar has been removed is dumped out and the tank is
again filled with fresh slices. This tank then becomes the
last in the series and receives the water laden with juice
after it has passed through all the other cells of the bat-
tery.
262 The Sugar-Beet in America
The pulp is carried off in a stream of water to a silo,
where it is held till it is dried or hauled away to be fed
to stock. Plate XIX. Methods of handling the pulp
are discussed in detail in Chapter XII. The juice, con-
taining the sugar, on coming from the batteries is dark in
color, and, in addition to the sugar, contains many impuri-
ties which must be removed before the sugar can be made
to crystallize out. Up to this point, the method of mak-
ing beet-sugar differs completely from that used for cane-
sugar; beet juice is obtained by diffusion, whereas the
cane juice is removed by crushing.
PURIFICATION OF THE JtJICE
After the juice is measured, it passes to the carbonation
tanks (Plate XXVII) where purification begins. Here it is
treated with 3 to 4 per cent of caustic lime in the form of
thick milk. After thorough agitation, the excess lime is
precipitated with carbon dioxid from the lime kiln. The
addition of lime is considered the most important opera-
tion in the sugar mill, and unless properly done the
final product is affected both in color and amount. The
effect of lime on the juice is both chemical and mechanical.
The lime unites chemically with a number of substances
that later interfere with the manufacturing process, and
it causes many of the solids held in suspension to settle to
the bottom, leaving a clear liquid of light amber color.
When the proper condition in the juice is obtained, it is
passed through filter presses, shown in Plate XXVIII, to
remove the precipitated lime and other solid matter.
These solid materials are retained in the frame of the
PLATE XXVIII. — Above, filter presses made of iron frames covered
with cloth through which juice filters as a clear liquid ; below, vacuum
pans where the juice is concentrated and the grains formed. (Courtesy
Truman G. Palmer.)
Sugar-Making 263
presses. As soon as the frame is full, the lime cake is
washed by passing water through it till the sugar-content
of the cake has been sufficiently reduced. The press is
then opened and the cake removed and disposed of in the
manner discussed in Chapter XII. A second filtration
is usually practiced in order to remove any solids that
may have gone through the first time. Later, the juice
is again treated with a little lime and with carbon
dioxid to reduce further the impurities, after which it
receives the third filtering.
In most sugar houses, the juice is treated with sulfur
fumes before it is concentrated, although sometimes con-
centration precedes this process. The object of treating
with sulfur is to reduce the alkalinity caused by the lime,
and to remove additional impurities. The sulfur also has
a bleaching action, removing color from the liquid that
might be carried on to the sugar. The sulfur fumes are
obtained by passing air over burning sulfur which yields
sulfurous acid. After being sulfured, the juice is passed
through special filter presses after which it is ready for
evaporation.
EVAPORATION
During the processes of purification the juice contains a
large quantity of water which was used to extract the
sugar in the diffusion battery. This must be evaporated
before the sugar will crystallize. The first beet factories
did this evaporating in open pans and as a result did not
secure a good quality of sugar. The heat required to
evaporate water rapidly at ordinary atmospheric pres-
sure is so high that sugar is likely to be charred. For this
264 The Sugar-Beet in America
reason, evaporation is carried on under reduced pres-
sure which lowers the boiling point of the liquid. After
the juice is reduced from about 82 per cent of water to
about 40 per cent, it is again treated with sulfur and
filtered in a manner similar to that used for the "thin
juice." This is the final process of purifying the beet
juice, which is then ready for graining.
In refining cane-sugar, there is no treatment with sulfur ;
impurities are removed with bone black. This is the
chief difference in the method of making sugar from cane
and from beets in the United States. In Europe, where
raw beet-sugar is produced by many factories, this prod-
uct also is refined by the aid of bone black. In early
days blood was used extensively in sugar refining, but this
practice has now been discontinued entirely.
GRAINING
The vacuum-pan serves not only for evaporating the
sirup but also for crystallizing the sugar. This pan is a
large cast-iron tank in which the air pressure can be kept
low to reduce the danger of browning the sugar by high
heat. If the juice has been purified properly, there is no
trouble about producing good sugar in this pan; but if
impurities remain, it is difficult to obtain good crystal-
lization. This mixture of crystals and sirup is called
" massecuite." It is run through a centrifugal machine,
like that shown in Plate XXIX, revolving at a rate of 1200
revolutions a minute. The sirup is thrown out through
fine perforations in the wall of the machine, and the
crystals of sugar remain, dropping out through the bottom
Sugar-Making 265
when enough sirup is thrown off to permit crumbling.
From the centrifugal machine the sugar is sent to the
driers, where any excess moisture is removed by a
current of warm air. The sugar is then ready to be
sacked and sent to the market.
The sirup thrown from the centrifugal machines goes
to the second vacuum-pan, where it is further concen-
trated ; a second yield of sugar smaller than the first is
taken from it in the centrifugal machine. The molasses
is sometimes carried to tanks, where it is used in a manner
discussed in Chapter XII. If the factory is equipped with
the Steffen process, a third yield of sugar is secured. This
yield is small and represents only that part which would
remain as molasses or be partly saved, if the ordinary
processes are used instead of the Steffen.
THE STEFFEN PROCESS
Regarding this process Rolph 1 has the following to
say : " In some of the beet factories the sugar left in the
final molasses is extracted by what is known as the Steffen
process. The final low-purity molasses is diluted with
water and cooled to a very low temperature, after which
finely powdered lime is constantly added to the solution
at a uniform and slow rate. The sugar combines with the
lime and a saccharage of lime is formed which is insoluble
in the liquid. The suspended matter, or saccharate, is
then separated and washed in filter presses.
"The cake from these filter presses, which is the sac-
1 Rolph, G. M., "Something about Sugar" (1917), pp. 115-
116.
266 The Sugar-Beet in America
charate of lime, is mixed with sweet water to a consist-
ency of cream and takes the place of milk of lime in the
carbonation process. When the Steffen process is em-
ployed, about ninety per cent of the sugar originally in
the beet is extracted. The loss of sugar that does take
place is accounted for in the exhausted cossettes or pulp,
in the pulp water which surrounds them when they are
dumped from the diffusion cells, in the cake and wash
waters from the carbonation presses, and in the waste
and wash waters from the Steffen process. As the water
used in washing the saccharate press cake is rich in fer-
tilizing qualities, it is used for irrigating the lands ad-
joining the factory.
"The 6,511,274 tons of beets harvested in the United
States during the season of 1915 contained an average of
16.49 per cent of sucrose, of which 14.21 per cent found
its way into the sacks as white sugar. The difference,
2.28 per cent, represented the loss in working up the beets.
As only a few factories, however, were using Steffen
process, a considerable amount of sugar was left in the
waste molasses. For the same period, the beets produced
in California contained 17.82 per cent of sugar, of which
15.64 per cent found its way into the sacks, showing a
loss of only 2.18 per cent. This may be accounted for
by the fact that probably more of the California factories
were equipped with the Steffen process than the average
for the United States, and that the purity of the juices of
California beets was higher than the average for the
United States.
"A factory equipped with the Steffen process and run-
ning on beets containing 17.82 per cent sugar, with a
PLATE XXIX. — Above, centrifugal machines where the molasses is
thrown out of the sugar; below, sugar warehouse, Garden City, Kansas.
(Courtesy Truman G. Palmer.)
Sugar-Making 267
purity of 82, should lose not over 1.9 per cent of the sugar
in the beet. The same factory without the Steffen pro-
cess would probably lose 5.04 per cent of the sugar."
It would, however, have a considerable quantity of
molasses.
CHAPTER XIX
SUGAR-CANE
No discussion of the sugar-beet would be complete
without mention being made of its great rival, sugar-
cane. The beet furnishes a comparatively new source of
sugar, whereas cane has been a commercial source of
sugar for centuries. If sugar-cane could be raised in
temperate climates in as great profusion as it grows in
the tropics, sugar would probably never be obtained com-
mercially from the sugar-beet, since the yield of cane is
much greater than that of beets, and the expense of han-
dling the crop is very much less.
Sugar-cane, however, is confined to hot countries ; this
means that sugar made from it has to be transported great
distances in order to reach the big markets, which are
found in the centers of population v This gives beet-
sugar a much better chance to compete. No one can
predict exactly the relative production of cane- and beet-
sugar in the future. It seems probable that both crops
will continue to be raised, each one supplying the market
that it can reach most easily.
The sugar-cane plant belongs to the grass family, and
is usually classed in the genus Saccharum, although it was
formerly known as Arundo saccharifera. Many varieties
Sugar-Cane 269
of cane are grown. These differ greatly in their various
properties, and they have the following colors : green,
yellow, red, brown, black, white, purple, and mixed.
Some varieties may be attractive to the grower, while the
manufacturer may prefer others. This is not unlike the
conditions with varieties of other crops. The producer
seeks yield and resistance; the manufacturer desires
quality and ease in handling. No one variety is best
suited to all conditions; a choice must be made on the
basis of local needs.
The roots are fibrous and lateral and do not penetrate
deeply. The root-stalk is an elongation of the stem, which
is made up of numerous nodes and internodes varying in
length from four to ten inches. The epidermis is polished
and in some varieties is very thick. Leaves are alternate ;
they are large at the base and gradually taper to the
point, being about three feet long and in some varieties
bearing pricks. The older leaves drop off as the plant
grows, leaving only those near the tip actively functioning.
A bud, called the eye, is borne under the base of each
leaf at the node. These contain the germ from which
new plants are produced. Each bud is capable of pro-
ducing a complete plant which may tiller and produce
many stalks. The seed is produced in panicles of silken
spikes and is often infertile, but propagation is carried
on vegetatively by planting stalks or pieces of stalks.
Around each bud are found numerous little dots which
produce roots when the bud is planted. In some climates
cane bears flowers when twelve or thirteen months old;
in other climates a longer period is required. Flowering
takes place before the cane is entirely ripe.
270 The Sugar-Beet in America
In Hawaii, eighteen months are required for it to ripen ;
it tassels about a month before it is ready to cut. In
Louisiana and Texas, the crop is harvested in nine or ten
months after planting ; in Cuba, it is cut in twelve months
whether it is ripe or not. In the Philippines, it is har-
vested in about fourteen months, being planted in No-
vember and December and harvested a year from the
next January and February.
ADAPTATION
Sugar-cane is strictly a hot-climate plant. In order
to flourish, it must have abundant sunshine, plenty of
moisture, and a fertile soil. It is usually confined to the
tropics, included between twenty-two degrees north lati-
tude and twenty-two degrees south latitude, although in
a few places it reaches beyond these boundaries, having
been grown as far north as thirty-two degrees in Spain
and as far south as thirty-seven degrees in New Zealand.
The most favorable growing conditions are found with an
average annual temperature of about 75° F. and seven to
nine months of growing season with warm days and
nights.
It flourishes in the Hawaiian Islands, Cuba, Mexico,
Central America, islands of the East and West Indies,
Australia, China, India, along the shores of the China
Sea and Indian Ocean, and in parts of Africa and South
America. In the low altitudes of temperate zones it
grows, but is only fairly successful.
The water requirement of the crop is exceedingly large
and can only be met by an extremely heavy rainfall or
PLATE XXX. — Above, planting sugar-cane ; below, unloading cane with
a derrick, Cuba. (Courtesy N. Kopeloff.)
Sugar-Cane 271
by irrigation. The distribution of moisture is highly
important, most of it being required during the period of
rapid growth. A comparatively dry season during ripen-
ing and harvest is desirable ; and in the growing season,
periods of clear skies and hot sunshine should alternate
with the rainy periods.
SOILS AND MANTTKING
Because the cane plant is a vigorous feeder, it needs a
fertile soil for its best growth. When so heavy a crop
must be supported from the zone that is penetrated by
the shallow roots of the cane, considerable available plant-
food is required. If this is not present in the soil, it must
be added as fertilizer if the highest yield is realized. No
particular kind of soil is required ; any good agricultural
land that can be well aerated and that has sufficient
plant-food will raise sugar-cane. Limestone soils are to
be preferred for this as well as for many other crops. The
saline condition often found along the coast causes trouble
with cane, although high yields are sometimes obtained
in the presence of some salt. A soil high in vegetable
mold is likely to produce a vegetative growth at the
expense of sugar formation.
In some cane-producing sections, fertilizer is added
twice for one crop, the first about planting time and the
second after growth is well under way. In Hawaii, about
$25 an acre are spent each year for fertilizers.
Where irrigation is practiced, the land is laid out with
furrows about five feet apart and eighteen inches deep,
running on a contour with the land to prevent washing.
272 The Sugar-Beet in America
In these furrows the cane is planted, and they also serve
as carriers for the irrigation water later. Water is ap-
plied soon after planting and at intervals of about a week
throughout the growing period.
CULTURAL METHODS
The cane stalk is so cut in joints that there will be at
least one bud on every joint; these are dropped in the
furrow end to end, as shown in Plate XXX, with a slight
lapping to insure a good stand. The upper part of the
stalk, not suited for anything else, is usually planted.
They are covered with one inch to an inch and a half of
soil, and carefully watered in order to promote an early
sprouting. Cultivation is also begun and continued as
long as the plants permit. In some parts of the tropics,
practically no care is given the cane after it is planted ;
it is allowed to yield from year to year whatever nature
will produce unaided.
In some sections, fresh plantings are made for every
crop, but a more common practice is to allow " ratooning, "
or a growing up from the roots. When this is done, a
furrow is plowed along the row after cutting to help in
aerating the soil, and a fresh growth begins at once.
When but one year of growth from the roots is practiced,
it is called a "short ratoon"; when the growth is con-
tinued two or three years or longer, it is called a "long
ratoon." In Hawaii it used to be the practice to plant
every crop, but now ratooning two or three crops is more
common. In Cuba the crop is ratooned for long periods,
sometimes twenty years or more.
PLATE XXXI. — Abc.rr, a vigorous j
below, sugar-cane in Louisiana.
•o\vth of sugar-pane, Argentina;
(Courtesy N. Kopeloff.)
Sugar-Cane 273
In Hawaii and other parts of the tropics, planting is
done from March to September, the cane beginning to
ripen a year from the next December. The period of
harvest extends from January to the latter part of July
or August. It is, therefore, necessary to have double the
amount of land that is to be harvested each year, since
practically two years are consumed in the planting, grow-
ing, and harvesting of a crop . .
The growth of a vigorous crop of sugar-cane resembles
that of a jungle, Plate XXXI. After the stalks become
heavy with sugar, they sag into all shapes. Stalks that
are twenty-four feet long may become so prostrate that
they seem to be only ten or twelve feet high. Some
varieties retain their upright growth much better than
others.
HARVESTING
The cane is cut near the ground with heavy knives and
at the same time the top is cut off and the stalk cut into
convenient lengths. In many sections, before cutting is
begun, the field is set on fire in order to rid the plants of
leaves ; in other places the leaves are stripped off. The
cane is taken to the mills either on railroads or wagons
similar to those shown in Plate XXXII or carried by
water through flumes. Where railroads are used, paths
are cut through the fields about 150 feet apart, and rails
laid through these. In loading the cane on the cars, a
strap is bound around as large a load as a man wishes to
carry, and the load is placed on his back and is carried
up an inclined plank to the car. Since fire kills the buds,
the plants that are to be used for seed are not burned.
274 The Sugar-Beet in America
In Hawaii a yield of twenty to eighty-five tons of
cane to the acre is secured. This contains from two and
a half to twelve tons of sugar, with an average of about
five tons.
EXTRACTION OF SUGAR
The sugar is removed from beets by dissolving it from
the cells with water in the diffusion battery ; it is removed
from cane by crushing the stalks and squeezing out the
juice between heavy rollers. The cane on the car in which
it comes from the field is weighed and samples are taken
for analysis. It is then ready for the mill. It passes
along conveyers to the crusher, which consists of two
large corrugated rollers which break the stalks and squeeze
out part of the juice. The cane mat is then passed on
through the mill, where it passes between several sets of
rollers which squeeze out all possible juice.
The bagasse, or woody part of the cane, which has been
squeezed dry, is conveyed to the engine house to be used
as fuel. The juice, after being screened to remove the
coarser solids held in suspension, goes to the purification
tanks, then to the multiple evaporators, and finally to the
crystallizing vacuum-pan, where it is usually made into
raw sugar. Most of the raw sugar is taken to large re-
fineries in the coast cities, where it is made into the re-
fined sugar of commerce.
The processes of making cane- and beet-sugar are very
similar except in one or two stages. These processes are
discussed in greater detail in the chapter on sugar-making.
PLATE XXXII. — Above, hand cutters harv
train of cane wagons drawn by tractor, Cuba.
sting sugar-cane; below,
(Courtesy N. Kopeloff .)
CHAPTER XX
WORLD'S USE AND SUPPLY OF SUGAR
THAT each year sees an increase in the use of sugar in
all civilized nations indicates its fundamental value as
a desirable and economic food. Formerly there was
much prejudice against the use of sugar. In ancient
times it was thought to be useful only as medicine ; later
it was considered as a delicacy to be used sparingly ; only
recently has it taken a place as an economical food used
for its energy value as much as for its agreeable flavor.
The increased use of sugar in practically all countries
will necessitate a great extension of the present sugar-
producing area, if the rate of increase in use is continued.
The place where this increase in production will be made
depends on several important factors. Transportation
facilities and legislative enactments will have quite as
much to do with the problem as will the adaptation of
various sections to the growth of sugar-producing plants.
KINDS OF SUGAR AND PROPERTIES
Sugar is a general name applied to a large group of
substances which, together with the starches, constitute
the carbohydrates. The name "carbohydrate" was
275
276 The Sugar-Beet in America
given because these compounds are made up of carbon
combined with hydrogen and oxygen in the ratio in which
these elements are found in water. This makes the carbo-
hydrates in reality carbon-water compounds. The sugars
are as a rule crystalline, soluble in water, less soluble or
insoluble in alcohol, and insoluble in ether and other sol-
vents that are immiscible with water. They all have a
more or less sweet taste, but vary considerably in sweet-
ness. Most sugars have the property of rotating the
plane of polarized light. This property is of great aid to
the chemist in making rapid determinations of the quantity
of sugar present in any substance.
The commercial sugars are divided chemically into two
classes : monosaccharids and disaccharids. The mono-
saccharids have the formula CeH^Oe and include dex-
trose, or grape-sugar, and levulose, or fruit-sugar. The
disaccharids have the formula C^H^On and include su-
crose, or cane-sugar, lactose, or milk-sugar, and malt-
ose, or malt-sugar. They may be considered as con-
densation products of the monosaccharids and derived
from two molecules by the elimination of water thus :
2C6H12O6-H2O = Ci2H22Oii. The sugars of the disac-
charid group are hydrolyzed when heated in solution with
dilute acid ; in the case of sucrose a mixture of dextrose
and levulose results, the change consisting of the addition
of a molecule of water and a bisection of the sucrose
molecule. This action is called "inversion."
Sucrose, or cane-sugar, is the most important of the
sugars ; it is the ordinary sugar of commerce. It is about
two and one-half times as sweet as grape-sugar. The
name cane-sugar was given because it was first obtained
World's Use and Supply of Sugar 277
from cane ; but it might just as well be called beet-sugar,
since the sugar obtained from the beet is exactly the same
chemically as that obtained from cane. This sugar is
made up of monoclinic prisms — usually with hemihedral
faces — and contains no water of crystallization. The
crystals are colorless, transparent, and have a specific
gravity of about 1.6 and a melting point of about 160° C.
At this temperature there is no decomposition in the
melted liquid, which solidifies on cooling to an amorphous
glassy mass and will after a short time assume crystalline
structure and become opaque. If heated to a higher
temperature, decomposition takes place between 200° and
210° C., when considerable gas is given off and a dark
brown substance with a bitter taste called caramel is left.
Sucrose is a strong reducing agent, which means that
it is readily oxidized. It does not ferment until converted
into invert sugar by the action of the yeast plant, or in-
vertin from yeast, or by some acid.
SUGAR IN NATURE
The sugars are found very widely distributed through-
out the plant kingdom. It is stated 1 that more than one-
half of the foods have a sweetish taste as compared with
one-third that taste salty and about one-tenth bitter or
sour. Sucrose, in addition to being present in large
quantities in sugar-cane and the sugar-beet, is found in
sorghum, in corn-stalks, in the sap of many forest trees,
in seeds, in most sweet fruits, — usually associated with
invert sugar, — in many kinds of roots, and in the nectar
1 Surface, G. M., "The Story of Sugar," p. 31.
278
The Sugar-Beet in America
of flowers. It exists in solution in the cells of plants.
Dextrose and levulose, which usually occur together, are
found in most fruits, in honey, and in many other products.
Honey consists of a natural mixture of about 37 per cent
each of dextrose and levulose, and may contain as high as
6 or 8 per cent of sucrose. Milk-sugar, or lactose, is con-
tained in milk, from 4 to 5 per cent being present. Malt-
sugar, or maltose, results from the action of diastase on
starchy materials.
Newlands l quotes the following analyses from Payen
to show the amount of sugar contained in a number of
fruits :
TABLE XX. — PERCENTAGE OF SUGAR IN FRUITS
CANE-SUOAB
TOTAL SUGARS
Pineapple (Montserrat)
11 33
13 30
Strawberry (Collina d'Erherdt) . .
Apricot
6.33
604
11.31
878
Apple, gray Reinette (fresh) ....
Apple, gray Reinette (preserved) . .
Apple English.
5.28
3.20
2 19
14.00
15.83
765
Calville (preserved)
0.43
625
5.24
8.67
Plum Reine Claude
1 23
555
0.41
1.47
Orange
4.22
8.58
Raspberry
2.01
7.23
Peach
0.92
1.99
Pear
0.68
8.78
Pear, St. Germaine (preserved) . . .
0.36
7.84
1 Newlands, J. A. R., and B. E. R., "Sugar, A Handbook for
Planter and Refiners," p. xvi.
World's Use and Supply of Sugar
279
The purity of sucrose in raw sugar from different sources
is given by Abel l as follows :
TABLE XXI. — AVERAGE PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF RAW
SUGAR FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES
SUQAK FROM
WATER
CANE-SUGAR
OTHER
ORGANIC
SUBSTANCES
ASH|
Percent
Percent
Percent
Percent
Sugar-cane .
2.16
93.33
4.24
1.27
Sugar-beet .
2.90
92.90
2.59
2.56
Maize . .
2.50
88.42
7.62
1.47
Palm . . .
1.86
87.97
9.65
.50
Maple . .
7.50
82.80
8.79
.91
These figures would not be constant under different
conditions, but they show average impurities in sugar
from different sources before it is refined.
SUGAR AS A FOOD
The value of sugar as a food is discussed by Abel 2 as
follows: "The main function of sugar as found in the
blood, whether resulting from the digestion of sugar or of
starch, is believed to be the production of energy for in-
ternal and external muscular work, and, as a necessary
accompaniment, body heat. This has been amply demon-
strated by experiment. By ingenious devices the blood
going to and from a muscle of a living animal may be
1 Abel, Mary Hinman, "Sugar and Its Value as Food," U. S.
Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 535 (1917), p. 13.
2 Ibid., pp. 16-18.
280 The Sugar-Beet in America
analyzed, and it is thus shown that more blood traverses
an active or working muscle and more sugar disappears
from it than is the case with a muscle at rest.
"To decide the question of the value of sugar as a
source of energy for the working muscle, much careful
laboratory work has been carried on. It has been found
that an increase in the sugar content of the diet, when
not too great and when the sugar is not too concentrated,
lessens or delays fatigue and increases working power.
Increased amounts of sugar were found to increase the
ability to perform muscular work to such an extent that
on a ration of 500 grams (17.5 ounces) of sugar alone a
man was able to do 61 to 76 per cent more work than on a
fasting diet, or almost as much as on a full ordinary diet.
The addition of about half this quantity of sugar to an
ordinary or to a meager diet also considerably increased
the capacity for work, the effect of the sugar being felt
about a half an hour after eating it, and its maximum
effect showing itself about two hours after eating. The
coming of fatigue was also found to be considerably de-
layed on this diet, and taking 3 or 4 ounces of sugar a
short time before the usual time for the occurrence of
fatigue prevented the appearance of it. Lemonade, or
other similar refreshing drink, and chocolate have been
suggested as mediums for supplying in small doses an extra
amount of sugar to men called upon to perform extraor-
dinary muscular labor. The application of these re-
sults to the food of soldiers who may be called upon for
extraordinary exertion in marching or fighting is very
evident. Practical tests of the value of sugar in pre-
venting or delaying fatigue, made in both the German and
World's Use and Supply of Sugar 281
French armies, indicate the value of sugar in the ration
when the men are subjected to great exertion.
"... According to our present knowledge the value
of sugar as a food for muscular work may be briefly sum-
marized as follows :
"When the organism is adapted to the digestion of
starch, and there is sufficient time for its utilization, sugar
has no advantage over starch as a food for muscular work.
" In small quantities and in not too concentrated form
sugar will take the place, practically weight for weight,
of starch as a food for muscular work, barring the dif-
ference in energy and in time required to digest them,
sugar having the advantage in these respects.
"It furnishes the needed carbohydrate material to
organisms that have little or no power to digest starch.
Thus, milk sugar is part of the natural food of the infant
whose digestive organs are, as yet, unable to convert
starch into an assimilable form.
"In times of great exertion or exhausting labor, the
rapidity with which it is assimilated gives sugar certain
advantages over starch and makes it prevent fatigue.
"This latter quality, which renders it more rapidly
available for muscular power, may account for the fact
that sugar is so relished by people who are doing muscular
work, and by those of very active habits, such as children.
" The American farmer ranks high among agriculturists
as a rapid and enduring worker, and his consumption of
sweets is known to be very large. The same is true of
lumbermen and others who work hard in the open air;
sugar and seed cakes are favorite foods with them. Dietary
studies carried on in the winter lumber camps of Maine
282 The Sugar-Beet in America
showed that large quantities of cookies, cakes, molasses,
and sugar were eaten, sugar of all sorts supplying on an
average 10 per cent of the total energy of the diet.
"The value of sugar in cold climates, where foods con-
taining starch are not available, is evident, and in the
outfit of polar expeditions sugar is now given an important
place.
"Oriental races are very fond of sweets, as often noted
by travelers. Certain forms of confectionery are very
popular in Turkey and other regions of the East, and in
tropical lands the consumption of dates, figs, and other
sweets is very large. In a discussion l of the food of the
natives of India the great value set on sweetmeats or
sugar by the Hindoo population of all classes is pointed
out. Large quantities of brown or white sugar are used
to sweeten the boiled milk, which is a common article of
diet, and sugar is also used with sour milk, rice, cheese,
and other foods. It has also been said that the employer
who will not furnish the native laborers with the large
amounts of sugar they desire, in their daily ration, must
expect to lose his workmen.
"Certain rowing clubs in Holland have reported very
beneficial results from the use of large amounts of sugar
in training.
"Pfliiger, who devoted so much attention to glycogen
and other carbohydrates, says that undoubtedly sugar in
the blood is heavily drawn on during violent exercise;
hence the longing for it in a form that can be rapidly
assimilated.
"Its use by mountain climbers is well known. The
1 U. S. Dept. of Agr.t Off. Exp. Sta., Bui. No. 175.
World's Use and Supply of Sugar
283
Swiss guide considers lump sugar and highly sweetened
chocolate an indispensable part of his outfit."
INCREASE IN USE OF SUGAR
While man has probably always eaten considerable
sugar, which he obtained in fruit and other foods, the use
FIG. 32. — Production of total sugar and beet-sugar in the world and the
United States' consumption of sugar and production of beet-sugar.
of refined sugar in large quantities is confined to modern
times. As previously stated, sugar was anciently thought
to be suitable for use only on special occasions; today
284
•O v>
.3
The Sugar-Beet in America
it forms a part of every day's
ration of civilized peoples. The
increase in the use of sugar during
the last generation is shown in
Fig. 32, which gives the world's
production over the period extend-
ing from 1865 to 1915. This curve
shows that during a period of fifty
years, the production and conse-
quently the consumption of sugar
increased from four and one-half
billion pounds to over forty bil-
lion, or an increase of 900 per cent.
Of course the population of the
world increased during this period,
but in no way did this compare
with the increase in sugar con-
sumption.
An examination of Fig. 33 shows
that if all the countries come up
to the per capita consumption of
nations like Great Britain and the
United States, the increase in the
total sugar required in the world
will continue. It is impossible to
predict what the future consump-
tion of sugar in the world will be,
but it seems probable that more
sugar will be required each year,
especially if the price can be kept
low. That it should find a greater
"8
World's Use and Supply of Sugar
285
M
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I
286 The Sugar-Beet in America
use seems only reasonable, since it supplies a wholesome
and nourishing food, which is relished by all classes of
people. i
USE IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
The annual per capita consumption of sugar in the
United States and the leading countries of Europe is
shown in Fig. 33. It varies from 89.59 pounds for each
individual in the United Kingdom to 8.94 pounds in
Italy. According to their use of sugar, the countries
come in the following order : United Kingdom, Denmark,
United States, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden, Germany,
Netherlands, France, Belgium, Austria-Hungary, Russia,
Spain, and Italy, — the people of the British Isles using
ten times as much as the Italians. Figures compiled by
Palmer l show the following percentage increase per
capita in sugar consumption during the twenty-six-year
period from 1889 to 1915 in the countries mentioned:
Germany, 323; Netherlands, 198; Russia, 188; Austria-
Hungary, 187; Switzerland, 150; Denmark, 144; Bel-
gium, 102; United States, 71; France, 54; Spain, 46;
United Kingdom, 22 ; and Italy, 16.
He also compiled Table XXII, which shows the total
consumption of sugar in the United States and several
European countries. This table shows that in less
than thirty years the use of sugar has increased several
hundred per cent in most countries. France is the
only one in which it has not more than doubled in that
time.
Calmer, Truman H., "Concerning Sugar" (1916).
World's Use and Supply of Sugar
287
288
The Stigar-Beet in America
CUBA
SUGAR
PRODUCTION
EACH DOT REPRESENTS 6.250 TONS (500,000 ARROBAS)
6TATWTC MILCS
PORTO RICO
SUGAR CANE
ACREAGE
EACH DOT REPRESENTS 600 ACMES
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
SUGAR CANE
ACREAGE
EACH DOT REPRESENTS 500 ACRES
STATUTt MILtS
JAVA
SUGAR CANE
ACREAGE
EACH DOT REPRESENTS 1.250 ACRES
FIG. 35. — Sugar production in Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and Java.
(U. S. Dept. of Agr.)
Wwld's Use and Supply of Sugar
289
SOURCE OF SUPPLY
The supply of sugar for the world comes from com-
paratively few areas. One factor entering into this is
INDIA
SUGAR CANE
ACREAGE 0
EACH POT REPRESENTS LOW AC«e9
Fia. 36. — Production of sugar in India. (U. S. Dept. of Agr.)
that the individual farmer cannot make commercial sugar
in regions where there are no sugar factories; and so
much money is invested in a sugar factory that one is not
u
290 The Sugar-Beet in America
likely to be built except in a region thought to be well
adapted to the raising of either sugar-cane or sugar-beets.
Sugar-cane is restricted to hot moist climates and sugar-
beets are raised in comparatively few districts. The parts
of the world that produce cane-sugar and beet-sugar
are shown in Fig. 34. The sugar-producing area is seen
to be very small in comparison to the total land area.
The production of cane-sugar in Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii,
Java, and India is shown in greater detail in Figs. 35 and
36. These represent the chief sources of cane-sugar.
The relative number of beet-sugar factories in Europe
and the United States is given in Fig. 11, page 3. The
maps are drawn to the same scale and give some idea of
the expansion that would be necessary in beet raising
in the United States if it were made equal to that of
Europe.
At the opening of the European war, the world's sugar
supply was about equally divided between beet-sugar and
cane-sugar ; but military operations in the beet-producing
areas of northern France, Belgium, Poland, and Italy
have greatly curtailed the making of beet-sugar in these
sections, and cane-sugar has been given a decided lead.
The countries exporting and importing sugar are shown
in Fig. 37. Cuba is the greatest exporter, followed by
the Dutch East Indies, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and
the smaller exporters. The United States is the leading
importer, followed by the United Kingdom, British India,
China, Canada, and the smaller importers.
The production of sugar in the United States and her
possessions is shown in Fig. 38. These give about half
of the sugar consumed in the country ; most of the other
World's Use and Supply of Sugar
291
half is imported from Cuba. An idea of the amount of
sugar used in this country may be obtained when it is
SUGAR EXPORTS AND IMPORTS
FIVE YEAR AVERAGE. 19O9-1913
TOTAL EXPORTS
t49300*7.eeS POUNDS
TOTAL IMPORTS
frO70.294.Oet POUND*
Fio. 37. — Sugar exports and imports in different countries. (U. S.
Dept. of Agr.)
realized that a freight train extending from Boston to
Denver would be required to haul one year's supply.
Detailed figures regarding the world's use and supply
of sugar are given in Appendix C.
FUTURE USE AND SUPPLY
Figures have already been given to show that the use
of sugar in the world is increasing very rapidly. There
seems to be no good reason why this increase should not
292
The Sugar-Beet in America
go on till the amount required to supply the world's needs
will be several times what it is at present; nor is there
any reason to believe that this demand cannot be met
SUGAR PRODUCTION
FIVE YEAR AVERAGE. 19O9-1913
UNlTEb STATES AND POSSESSIONS
CANE SUGAR
THOUSANDS OF SHORT TONS
100 200 300 400 500
HAWAII
PORTO RICO
LOUISIANA
PHILIPPINE IS.
j
^
—
BEET SUGAR THOUSANDS OF SHORT TONS
1 100 200 300 400 500
COLORADO JBHBUBBBI
CALIFORNIA
— i
—
MICHIGAN
HBOB
•
UTAH & IDAHO
mama
OTHER STATES
"""I
FIG. 38. — Production of sugar in the United States and possessions.
(U. S. Dept. of Agr.)
easily. Under scientific methods, cane-sugar production
in the tropics is capable of very great expansion; the
world's entire sugar supply could be obtained from this
source if there were no other.
The beet-sugar industry is only in its infancy in the
World's Use and Supply of Sugar 293
United States. It also could be extended to many other
parts of the temperate zone. If necessary, the world's
needs for sugar could be supplied from beets, so great is
the area adapted to raising this crop. With these two
sources of sugar, it seems reasonable to believe that there
will be no permanent shortage in this product that is each
year becoming a more important element in the diet of
mankind.
APPENDIX A
BIBLIOGRAPHY »
Books
1840. CHILD, DAVID LEE. "Culture of the Beet, and Manu-
facture of Beet Sugar," pp. 156. (Boston.)
1880. WARE, LEWIS S. "The Sugar Beet," pp. 323. (Phila-
delphia.)
1897. SPENCER, G. L. "A Handbook for Beet-sugar Chem-
ists," pp.461. (New York.)
1898. WARE, L. S. " Sugar Beet Seed," pp. 264. (New York.)
1899. MYRICK, HERBERT. "The American Sugar Industry,"
pp. 220. (New York.)
1902. WARE, L. B. "Cattle Feeding with Sugar Beets, Sugar,
Molasses, and Sugar Residuum," pp. 389. (Philadel-
phia.)
1905. WARE, L. B. "Beet Sugar Manufacture," 2 vol., pp. 543
and 647. (New York.)
1908. RODERNS, FRANK. "The American Beet Growers An-
nual," pp. 83. (Chicago.)
1909. NEWLANDS, J. A. R., and NEWLANDS, B. E. R. "Sugar,
A Handbook for Planters and Refiners," pp. 876.
(London and New York.)
1909. NIKAIDO, Y. "Beet-sugar Making and its Chemical
Control," pp. 354. (Easton, Pa.)
1910. CLAASSEN, H. "Beet-Sugar Manufacture." Translated
from third German Edition by W. T. Hall and G. W.
Rolfe, pp. 343. (New York.)
1 No attempt has been made to give a complete list of publica-
tions relating to the sugar-beet in America. Only the most avail-
able and most useful references have been included.
295
296 Appendix A
1910. SURFACE, G. T. "The Story of Sugar," pp. 238. (New
York and London.)
1911. JODIDI, SAMUEL. "The Sugar Beet and Beet Sugar,"
pp. 76. (Chicago.)
1912. BROWNE, C. A. "A Handbook of Sugar Analysis," pp.
787. (New York.)
1912. BLAKE Y, R. G. "The United States Beet Sugar Indus-
try and the Tariff," pp. 286. (New York.)
1913. ADAMS, R. L. "Field Manual for Sugar-beet Growers,"
pp. 134. (Chicago.)
1914. MACKENZIE, J. E. "The Sugars and their Simple Deriva-
tives," pp. 236. (Philadelphia and London.)
1915. PALMER, T. G. "Concerning Sugar." (Washington.)
A loose leaf service.
1917. ROLPH, G. M. "Something About Sugar," pp. 341.
(San Francisco.)
1918. PALMER, T. G. "Sugar-beet Seed," pp. 120. (New
York.)
Periodicals
Facts About Sugar (New York).
Published weekly in the interest of American sugar production.
Sugar (Chicago).
Published weekly. An English-Spanish technical journal de-
voted to sugar production.
The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer (New Orleans and
Havana).
Published weekly. Chief interest is sugar-cane but devotes
some space to sugar-beets. A Spanish edition is published
monthly under the name of El Mundo Azucarero.
Through the Leaves (Longmont, Colorado).
Published monthly by the Great Western Sugar Company in
the interest of sugar-beet production.
Willett and Gray's Statistical Sugar Trade Weekly Journal (New
York).
Gives data on world market conditions and supply of sugar.
The International Sugar Journal (London, England).
A monthly technical and commercial periodical devoted to
sugar problems in all parts of the world.
The Australian Sugar Journal (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia).
Published monthly.
Appendix A 297
Bulletins, Reports, Etc.
1838. "Report on Mulberry and Sugar Beet." April 20, 1838.
U. S. 25th Cong., 2d Sess., Reports of Committees, Vol.
3, No. 815.
1853. WILSON, JOHN. "Manufacture of Sugar from Beet Root."
Trans. N. Y. State Agr. Soc., Vol. 13, pp. 114-136.
1861. "Beet — Its Culture, Properties, and Qualities." Ohio
State Board of Agr., 16th Ann. Rept., pp. 179-205.
1862. "Beet Sugar." Ohio State Board of Agr., 17th Ann. Rept.,
pp. 197-224.
1864. "On the Beet Root as a Source of Sugar." Maine Board
of Agr., 9th Ann. Rpt., pp. 168-171.
1865. "Sugar Beets." Ohio State Board of Agr., 20th Ann.
Rept., pp. 133-135.
"Analyses of Sugar Beets." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Ann.
Rpt. 1865, pp. 46-48.
1868. BIBBECK, JOHN. " Manufacture of the Sugar Beet in the
U. S." Jour. Franklin Inst., Phil., Vol. 85, p. 44.
1869. "Beet-root Sugar." Michigan Sta. Board of Agr., 8th
Ann. Rpt., pp. 216-225.
DEBT, JULIEN M. "American Beet-root Sugar." Scien-
tific American, Vol. 20. A series of 11 articles scattered
through the volume from pp. 57 to 354.
1871. GOESSMANN, C. A. "Report on the Production of Beet
Sugar as an Agricultural Enterprise in Massachusetts."
Mass. Agr. Coll., 8th Ann. Rpt. of Board of Trustees,
pp. 43-80.
1872. GOESSMANN, C. A. " Report of Sugar Beets Raised on the
College Farm." Mass. Agr. Coll., 9th Ann. Rpt.,
Board of Trustees, pp. 31-63.
1873. "Sugar-beet Machinery." Mass. Agr. Coll., 10th Ann.
Rpt., Board of Trustees, pp. 87-93.
1874. GOESSMANN, C. A. " Report of Experiments with Sugar
Beets." Mass. Agr. Coll., llth Ann. Rpt., Board of
Trustees, pp. 41-52.
1876. GOESSMANN, C. A. "Experiments in the Cultivation of
Sugar-beet Roots in the State of N. Y." Trans. N. Y.
State Agr. Soc., Vol. 32, pp. 163-169.
BRACKETT, G. E. "Beet Sugar." Maine State Board of
Agr., 21st Ann. Rpt., pp. 80-84.
298 Appendix A
1876. AUBERT, A. B. "Notes upon the Culture and Manipula-
tion of Sugar Beets." Maine State Board of Agr., 21st
Ann. Rpt., pp. 166-178.
1877. HUMPHREY, H. C. "Beet-sugar Interest." Penn. State
Board of Agr., 1st Ann. Rpt., pp. 225-229.
1878. DEMERITTE, ALBERT. " Sugar-beet Culture." New Hamp-
shire State Board of Agr., 8th Ann. Rpt., pp. 413-416.
GENNERT, E. T. "Beet-sugar Industry in Maine."
Maine State Board of Agr., 23d Ann. Rpt., pp. 174-181.
HUMPHREY, H. C. "Culture of Sugar Beets and Sugar
Manufacture." Conn. Board of Agr., llth Ann. Rpt.,
pp. 93-97.
1879. GOESSMANN, C. A. "On the Cultivation of Sugar Beets
and the Manufacture of Sugar." Mass. State Board
of Agr., 27th Rpt., pp. 378-402.
1880. MCMURTRIE, WM. "Report of the Culture of the Sugar
Beet and the Manufacture of Sugar Therefrom in
France and the United States." U. S. Dept. of Agr.,
Special Report No. 28.
1882. GENNERT, E. T. "Beet-sugar Industry in America."
Trans. N. Y. State Agr. Soc., Vol. 33, pp. 75-83.
WARE, L. S., and GRINSHAW, R. "Sugar-beet Industry."
Jour. Franklin Inst., Vol. 113, pp. 292-298.
1884. WILEY, H.W. "Northern Sugar Industry." U. S. Dept.
of Agr., Div. of Chem., Bui. No. 3, pp. 24^27.
1887. HILGARD, E. W. "Sugar Beets at Fresno." Cal. Sta.
Bui. No. 72.
SPRECKLES, C. "Letter on Cultivation of Sugar Beets."
Trans. Calif. State Agr. Soc., 1887, pp. 222-223.
1889. CASSIDY, JAS., and O'BRINE, D. "Potatoes and Sugar
Beets." Colo. Sta. Bui. No. 7.
ALMY, A. H. "Growth of the Beet-sugar Industry."
Pop. Sci. Monthly, Vol. 35, pp. 85-92 and 199-211.
1890. WILEY, H. W. "The Sugar-beet Industry." U. S. Dept.
of Agr., Div. of Chem., Bui. No. 27.
WILEY, H. W. "Experiments with Sugar Beets in 1890."
U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. of Chem., Bui. No. 30.
O'BRINE, D. "Sugar Beets." Colo. Sta. Bui. No. 11.
NICHOLSON, H. H., and LLOYD, R. " Experiments in the
Culture of Sugar Beets in Nebraska." Neb. Sta. Bui.
No. 13.
Appendix A 299
1890. "Experiments with Sugar Beets." Kansas Sta. 3d Ann.
Rpt., pp. 145-149.
PATRICK, G. E. " Sugar Beets." Iowa Sta. Bui. No. 8.
1891. PATRICK, G. E., and EATON, E. N. "Sugar Beets."
Iowa Sta. Bui. No. 12.
WILSON, JAS. "Sugar Beet Growing." Iowa Sta. Bui.
No. 15.
WILEY, H. W. " Culture of Sugar Beets." U. S. Dept. of
Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 3.
JAMES, C. C. "Pitting the Sugar Beet." Ontario Exp.
Sta. Bui. 63.
HENRY, W. A. "Sugar Beet Culture in Wisconsin."
Wis. Sta. Bui. No. 26.
MCLAREN, DICE, and SLOSSON, E. E. "The Sugar Beet
in Wyoming." Wyo. Sta. Bui. No. 3.
O'BRINE, D. "Progress Bulletin on Sugar Beets." Colo.
Sta. Bui. No. 14.
HUSTON, H. A. "Sugar Beets." Ind. Sta. Bui. No. 34,
pp. 57-65.
MCDOWELL, R. H. "Sugar-beet Culture." Nev. Sta.
Bui. No. 13.
NICHOLSON, H. H., and LLOYD, R. "Experiments in the
Culture of Sugar Beets in Nebraska." Neb. Sta. Bui.
No. 16.
HARPER, D. N., and HAYS, W. M. "Sugar Beets."
Minn. Sta. Bui. No. 14.
KEDZIE, R. C. "Beet Sugar." Mich. Sta. Bui. No. 71.
KEDZIE, R. C. "Sugar Beets, Results for 1891." Mich.
Sta. Bui. No. 82.
"Experiments with Sorghum and with Sugar Beets."
Kansas Exp. Sta. Bui. No. 31.
1892. BRUNER, L. "Notes on Certain Caterpillars Attacking
Sugar Beets.'^ Neb. Sta. Bui. No. 24.
Fox, C. P. "Sugar Beets." Mo. Sta. Bui. No. 17.
HARPER, D. N. "Sugar Beets." Minn. Sta. Bui. No.
21.
FAILYER, G. H., and WILLARD, J. T. "Experiments with
Sugar Beets." Kas. Sta. Bui. Nos. 31 and 36.
HUSTON, H. A. "Sugar Beets." Ind. Sta. Bui. No. 39.
WOLL, F. W. "Sugar Beet Experiments in Wisconsin in
1891." Wis. Sta. Bui. No. 30.
300 Appendix A
1892. Goss, A. "Experiments with Sugar Beets." New Mex.
Sta. Bui. No. 8, pp. 33-34.
SHAW, G. W., and LOTZ, DUMONT. " Sugar Beets." Ore.
Sta. Bui. No. 17.
SLOSSON, E. E. "Sugar Beets in 1892." Wyo. Sta. Bui.
No. 9.
WILEY, H. W. "Experiments with Sugar Beets in 1891."
U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. Chem., Bui. 33.
WATKOUS, F. L. "Sugar-beet Culture." Colo. Sta. Bui.
No. 21.
HICKMAN, J. F. " Mangold Wurzels and Sugar Beets."
Ohio Sta. Bui., ser. 2, b. 5, No. 2.
LADD, E. F. "Sugar Beets; Experiments in North
Dakota in 1891." N. D. Sta. Bui. No. 5.
MCDOWELL, R. H., and WILSON, N. E. "Sugar Beets."
Nev. Sta. Bui. No. 19.
NICHOLSON, H. H., and LLOYD, R. "Experiments in the
Culture of Sugar Beets in Nebraska." Neb. Sta. Bui.
No. 21.
1893. WILEY, H. W., and MAXWELL, W. "Experiments with
Sugar Beets in 1892." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur.
Chem., Bui. No. 36.
SHAW, G. W. "Sugar Beets in Oregon." Ore. Sta. Bui.
No. 23.
MCDOWELL, R. H., and WILSON, N. E. "Sugar Beets."
Nev. Sta. Bui. No. 23.
NICHOLSON, H. H., and LYON, T. L. "Experiments in the
Culture of Sugar Beets in Nebraska." Neb. Sta. Bui.
No. 27.
FAILYEB, G. H., and WILLAED, J. T. "Experiments with
Sugar Beets." Kas. Exp. Sta. Bui. No. 43.
PATRICK, G. E., HEILEMAN, W. H., and EATON, E. N.
"Sugar Beets in Iowa, 1892." Iowa Sta. Bui. No. 20.
HUSTON, H. A. "Sugar Beets." Ind. Sta. Bui. No. 43.
GIRD, R. "Culture of Sugar Beets." Trans. Calif. State
Agr. Soc. 1893, pp. 102-107.
1894. WILEY, H. W., and MAXWELL, W. "Experiments with
Sugar Beets in 1893." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. of
Chem., Bui. No. 39.
WILSON, N. E. "Sugar Beets." Nev. Sta. Bui. No.
23.
Appendix A 301
1894. ROBERTS, I. P. "Cooperative Tests of Sugar Beets."
Cornell Sta. Bui. No. 63.
NICHOLSON, H. H., and NICHOLSON, E. E. "Experiments
in the Culture of Sugar Beets in Nebraska." Neb.
Sta. Bui. No. 36.
NICHOLSON, H. H. "Nebraska and the Beet-sugar In-
dustry." Neb. Sta. Bui. No. 38.
PATRICK, G. E., and PAGELSEN, O. H. "Sugar Beets in
Iowa, 1893." Iowa Sta. Bui. No. 23.
FULMER, E. "Sugar Beets." Wash. Sta. Bui. No. 15.
SLOSSON, E. E. "Sugar Beets in 1893." Wyo. Sta. Bui.
No. 17.
1895. HUSTON, H. A. "Experiments with Sugar Beets." Ind.
Sta. Bui. No. 55.
1896. WILSON, W. E. "Sugar Beets." Nev. Sta. Bui. No. 32.
FULMER, ELTON. "Experiments in the Culture of Beets
in Washington." Wash. Sta. Bui. No. 26.
NICHOLSON, H. H., and LYON, T. L. "Experiments in the
Culture of Sugar Beets in Nebraska." Neb. Sta. Bui.
No. 44.
SOWERS, E. "Sugar, An Industrial Opportunity for
America." North Am. Rev., Vol. 163, pp. 316-325.
1897. WIDTSOE, J. A. "Utah Sugar Beets." Utah Sta. Bui.
No. 53.
MCDOWELL, R. H., and WILSON, N. E. "Sugar Beets."
Nev. Sta. Bui. No. 37.
WATERS, H. J. "The Sugar Beet." Mo. Sta. Bui. No.
40.
WATROUS, F. L. "Sugar Beets." Colo. Sta. Bui. No.
36.
DEVOL, W. S. "Sugar Beets." Ariz. Sta. Bui. No. 23.
HENRY, W. A. "Beet-sugar Production; Possibilities
for a New Industry in Wisconsin." Wis. Sta. Bui. No.
55.
SHAW, G. W. "Review of Oregon Sugar Beets." Ore.
Sta. Bui. No. 44.
VAN SLYKE, L. L., JORDAN, W. H., and CHURCHILL.
"The Composition and Production of Sugar Beets."
N. Y. Sta. Bui. No. 135.
MARROW, G. E., and BONE, J. H. "Experiments with
Field Crops." Okla. Sta. Bui. No, 33.
302 Appendix A
1897. ARMSBY, W. P. "The Sugar Beet in Pennsylvania."
Penn. Sta. Bui. No. 40.
FULMEE, E. "Irrigation Experiments in Sugar-beet Cul-
ture in North Yakima Valley." Wash. Sta. Bui. No.
31.
1898. MCDOWELL, R. H., and WILSON, N. E. "Sugar Beets."
Nev. Sta. Bui. No. 43.
FOSTER, LUTHER. "Sugar Beets in 1898." Utah Sta.
Bui. No. 59.
STONE, J. L. "Sugar-beet Investigations." Cornell Sta.
Bui. No. 143.
HEADDEN, W. P. "A Soil Study." "The Crop Grown :
Sugar Beets." Colo. Sta. Bui. No. 46.
HALL, F. H., and VAN SLYKE, L. L. "Sugar Beet Success
for the Season." N. Y. Sta. Bui. No. 155.
WOLL, F. W. "Sugar Beet Investigations in Wisconsin
during 1898." Wis. Sta. Bui. No. 64.
Goss, A. "New Mexico Sugar Beets." New Mex. Sta.
Bui. No. 26.
SELBY, A. D., and BLOOMFIELD, L. M. "Sugar Beet
Investigations in 1897." Ohio Sta. Bui. No. 90.
SLOSSON, E. E. "Wyoming Sugar Beets." Wyo. Sta.
Bui. No. 36.
WILEY, H. W. U. S. Dept. of Agr. "Special Report on
the Beet-Sugar Industry in the United States."
SAYLOR, C. F. "Progress of the Beet-sugar Industry in
the United States in 1898." Government Printing
Office.
Goss, A., and HOLT, A. M. "New Mexico Sugar Beets
(1898)." New Mexico Sta. Bui. No. 29.
HOLDEN, P. G., and HOPKINS, C. G. "The Sugar Beet in
Illinois." 111. Sta. Bui. No. 49.
1898. SNYDER, HARRY. "Sugar Beets, Summary of Investiga-
tions from 1888 to 1898." Minn. Sta. Bui. No. 56.
WIDTSOE, J. A. "Sugar Beets." Utah Sta. Bui. No. 53.
1899. MCCLATCHIE, A. J. "Sugar Beet Experiments during
1899." Ariz. Sta. Bui. No. 31.
WILSON, N. E., and MCDOWELL, R. H. "Sugar Beets."
Nev. Sta. Bui. No. 44.
SELBY, A. D. "Sugar Beet Investigations in 1898."
Ohio Sta. Bui. No. 99.
Appendix A 303
1899. WOLL, F. W. "Sugar Beet Investigations in Wisconsin
during 1898." Wis. Sta. Bui. No. 71.
DUGGAR, B. M. "Fungous Diseases of the Sugar Beet."
Cornell Sta. Bui. No. 163.
STONE, J. L. "Sugar Beet Investigations for 1898."
Cornell Sta. Bui. No. 166.
WILEY, H. W. "Experiments with Sugar Beets in 1897."
U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. of Chem., Bui. No. 52.
COOKE, W. W. "Sugar Beets in Colorado in 1898."
Colo. Sta. Bui. No. 51.
WATERS, H. J. "The Sugar Beet." Mo. Sta. Bui. No.
45.
SHAW, G. W. "Sugar-beet Experiments in 1898." Ore.
Sta. Bui. No. 59.
ARMSBY, W. P., and HESS, E. H. "Tests of the Sugar
Beet in Pennsylvania." Penn. Sta. Bui. No. 47.
FOSTER, L. "Sugar Beets in 1898." Utah Sta. Bui. No.
59.
FOSTER, L. "Sugar Beets in Sanpete and Sevier Coun-
ties." Utah Sta. Bui. No. 63.
STEWART, J. J., and HITE, B. H. "Sugar Beet Investiga-
tions in 1898." West Va. Sta. Bui. No. 55.
1900. FORBES, S. A., and HART, C. A. "The Economic Ento-
mology of the Sugar Beet." 111. Sta. Bui. No. 60.
HEADDEN, W. P. "A Soil Study. The Crop Grown:
Sugar Beets." Colo. Sta. Bui. No. 58.
MCDOWELL, R. H., and WILSON, N. E. "Sugar Beets."
Nev. Sta. Bui. No. 50.
SELBY, A. D. "Sugar Beet and Sorghum Investigations
in 1899." Ohio Sta. Bui. No. 115.
WING, H. H., and ANDERSON, L. "Sugar-beet Pulp as a
Food for Cows." Cornell Sta. Bui. No. 183.
TOWAR, J. D. "Sugar Beet Investigations." Mich. Sta.
Bui. No. 179.
STONE, J. L., and CLINTON, L. A. "Sugar Beet Investiga-
tions for 1899." Cornell Sta. Bui. No. 182.
1901. SELBY, A. D., and AMES, J. W. "Sugar-beet Investiga-
tions in Ohio in 1900." Ohio Sta. Bui. No. 126.
WILEY, H. W. "Influence of Environment upon the
Composition of Sugar Beets, 1900." U. S. Dept. of
Agr., Bur. of Chem., Bui. No. 64.
304 Appendix A
1901. HEADDEN, W. P. "Sugar Beets." Colo. Sta. Bui.
No. 63.
WITHERS, W. A. "The Sugar Beet in North Carolina."
N. C. Exp. Sta. Bui. No. 180.
1902. GRIFFIN, H. H. "Feeding Beet Pulp to Lambs." Colo.
Sta. Bui. No. 76.
MCCLATCHIE, A. J. "Irrigation at Station Farm, 1898-
1901." Ariz. Sta. Bui. No. 41.
TOWAR, J. D. "Sugar Beet Experiments." 1901.
Mich. Sta. Bui. No. 197.
AMES, J. W. "Sugar Beet Investigations in 1901." Ohio
Sta. Bui. No. 132.
FREAR, W., and CARTER, W. T. "Pennsylvania Sugar
Beets in 1901." Penn. Sta. Bui. No. 59.
TRAPHAGEN, F. W. "Sugar Beets in Montana." Mont.
Sta. Bui. No. 33.
LYON, T. L., and WIANCKO, A. T. "Experiments in the
Culture of the Sugar Beet in Nebraska." Neb. Sta.
Bul. No. 73.
WIDTSOE, J. A. " Irrigation Investigations." Utah Sta.
Bul. No. 80.
1903. LYON, T. L., and WIANCKO, A. T. "Experiments on the
Culture of Sugar Beets in Nebraska." Neb. Sta. Bul.
No. 81.
CHITTENDEN, F. H. "The Principal Insect Enemies of
the Sugar Beet." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. of Ent.,
Bul. No. 43.
WILEY, H. W. "The Influence of Soil and Climate upon
the Composition of the Sugar Beet, 1901." U. S.
Dept. of Agr., Bur. of Chem., Bul. No. 74.
SHAW, G. W. "The California Sugar Industry." Calif.
Sta. Bul. No. 149.
WILEY, H. W. "The Influence of Environment upon the
Composition of the Sugar Beet, 1902, Including a Study
of the Irrigated Sections." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. of
Chem., Bul. No. 78.
TOWNSEND, C. O. "Relation of Sugar Beets to General
Farming." U. S. Dept. of Agr. Yearbook, 1903, pp.
399-410.
SMITH, C. D. "Sugar-beet Experiments, 1902." Mich.
Sta. Bul. No. 207.
Appendix A 305
1904. RUTTER, F. R. " International Sugar Situation." U.S.
Dept. of Agr., Bur. of Statistics, Bui. No. 30.
SAYLOR, C. T. "Methods and Benefits of Growing Sugar
Beets." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Off. of Sec., Circ. No. 11.
TRACY, J. E. W. "Sugar-beet Seed Breeding." U. S.
Dept. of Agr. Yearbook, 1904, pp. 341-352.
TRAPHAGEN, F. W. "Sugar Beets." Mont. Sta. Bui.
No. 52.
SHAW, R. S. "Dried Beet Pulp and Dried Molasses-Beet-
Pulp for Fattening Sheep." Mich. Sta. Bui. No. 220.
SMITH, C. D. "Experiments with Sugar Beets in 1903."
Mich. Sta. Bui. No. 215.
MERRILL, L. A., and CLARK, R. W. "Feeding Beet Mo-
lasses and Pulp to Sheep and Steers." Utah Sta. Bui.
No. 90.
1905. TOWNSEND, C. 0., and RITTUE. "The Development of
Single-germ Beet Seed." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. of
PL Ind., Bui. No. 73.
CARLYLE, W. L., and GRIFFITH, C. J. "Feeding Steers on
Sugar-beet Pulp, Alfalfa Hay, and Ground Corn."
Colo. Sta. Bui. No. 102.
BILLINGS, G. A. I. "Dried Beet Pulp as a Substitute for
Corn Silage." II. "Dried Beet Pulp vs. Dried Mo-
lasses Beet Pulp." III. "Dried Molasses Beet Pulp vs.
Hominy Meal." N. J. Sta. Bui. No. 189.
WOLL, F. W., and HUMPHREY, G. C. "Dried Beet Pulp
or Molasses Beet Pulp for Dairy Cows." Wis. Ann.
Rpt., 1905, pp. 108-117.
HILLS, J. L. "Feeding Value of Dried Molasses Beet-
Pulp." Vt. 17th Ann. Rpt. (1904), p. 484.
SHAW, G. W. "Tolerance of the Sugar Beet for Alkali."
Cal. Sta. Bui. No. 169.
WOLL, F. W. "The Beet-sugar Industry of Wisconsin."
Wis. Sta. Bui. No. 123.
WILEY, H. W. "The Influence of Environment Upon
the Composition of the Sugar Beet, 1903." U. S.
Dept. of Agr., Bur. of Chem., Bui. No. 95.
WILEY, H. W. "The Influence of Environment on the
Composition of the Sugar Beet, 1904, Together with a
Summary of the Five-year Investigation." U. S. Dept.
of Agr., Bur. of Chem., Bui. No. 96.
306 Appendix A
1906. BALL, E. D. "The Beet Leafhopper." Utah Sta. 16th
Ann. Rpt., p. 16.
SHAW, G. W. "Sugar Beets in the San Joaquin Valley."
Calif. Sta. Bui. No. 176.
HARRISON, G. B. "The Beet-sugar Industry in Kansas."
Rpt. Kas. State Board of Agr., Vol. 25, No. 99, pp. 3-32
(Sept. 1906).
TOWNSEND, C. O. "Methods of Reducing the Cost of
Producing Sugar Beets." U. S. Dept. of Agr. Year-
book, 1906, pp. 265-278.
DANIELSON, A. H. "Fertilizer Experiments with Sugar
Beets." Colo. Sta. Bui. No. 115.
CLARK, R. W. "Feeding Experiments with Cattle,
Sheep, Swine, and Horses." Utah Sta. Bui. No. 101.
1907. FRABER, S., GILMORE, J. W., and CLARK, C. F. "Culture
and Varieties of Roots for Stock-Feeding." Cornell
Sta. Bui. No. 244.
SAYLOR, C. F. "Progress of the Beet-sugar Industry in
the United States in 1906." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Re-
port No. 84.
SHAW, R. S., and NORTON, H. W., Jr. "Dried Beet Pulp
for Fattening Steers." Mich. Sta. Bui. No. 247.
WOLL, F. W., and STODDART, C. W. "Sugar-beet Experi-
ments During 1906." Wis. Sta. Bui. No. 150.
1908. TOWNSEND, C. O. "By-products of the Sugar Beet and
their Use." U. S. Dept. of Agr. Yearbook, 1908, pp.
443-452.
SAYLOR, C. F. "Progress of the Beet-sugar Industry in
the United States in 1907." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Re-
port No. 86.
SHEPARD, J. H. "Sugar Beets in South Dakota." S. D.
Sta. Bui. No. 106.
1909. TOWNSEND, C. O. "Conditions Influencing the Produc-
tion of Sugar-beet Seed in the United States." U. S.
Dept. of Agr. Yearbook, 1909, pp. 173-184.
CARLYLE, W. L., and MORTON, G. E. "Carrying Range
Steers Through Winter and Sugar Beets for Fattening
Steers." Colo. Sta. Bui. No. 149.
BALL, E. D. "The Leaf hoppers of the Sugar Beet and
their Relation to the Curly-leaf Condition." U. S.
Dept. of Agr., Bur. of Ent., Bui. No. 66, Pt. 4.
Appendix A 307
1909. SHEPARD, J. H. "Sugar Beets in South Dakota." South
Dakota Sta. Bui. No. 117.
SAYLOB, C. F. "Progress of the Beet-sugar Industry in the
United States in 1908." U. S. Dept. Agr., Report No.90.
TOWNSEND, C. O. "The Sugar Beet." Cyc. Am. Agr.,
Vol. II, pp. 588-595.
CHAMBERLAIN, G. M., Jr. "The Manufacture of Beet
Sugar." Cyc. Am. Agr., Vol. II, pp. 595-599.
1910. SAYLOR, C. F. "Progress of the Beet-sugar Industry in
the United States in 1909." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Re-
port No. 92.
WILEY, H. W. "The Sugar Beet." U. S. Dept. of Agr.,
Farmers' Bui. No. 52 (Revised).
SHEPARD, J. H. "Growing Sugar-beet Seed in South
Dakota." S. D. Sta. Bui. No. 121.
SHAW, H. B. "The Curly Top of Beets." U. S. Dept.
of Agr., Bur. Plant Ind., Bui. No. 181.
ROEDING, F. W. "Irrigation of Sugar Beets." U. S.
Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 392.
1911. KNIGHT, C. S. "The Sugar-beet Industry in Nevada."
Nev. Sta. Bui. No. 75.
SHEPARD, J. H. "Growing Pedigreed Sugar-beet Seed in
South Dakota." S. D. Sta. Bui. No. 129.
1912. WIDTSOE, J. A., et al. "Irrigation Studies." Utah Sta.
Buls. Nos. 116, 117, 118, 119, and 120. (1912.)
UNDERWOOD, O. W., et al. "Placing Sugar on the Free
List." Report of Committee on Ways and Means,
U. S. House of Rep., 62d Congress, 2d Session, Report
No. 391, Mar. 5, 1912.
FORDNEY, J. W., et al. "Placing Sugar on the Free Last."
Minority Report, Committee on Ways and Means,
U. S. House of Rep., 62d Congress, 2d Session, Report
No. 391, Part 2, Mar. 7, 1912.
ORTON, W. A., et al. "The American Beet-sugar Industry
in 1910 and 1911." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. of PI.
Ind., Bui. No. 260.
PALMER, T. G. "Sugar at a Glance." Senate Doc. No.
890, 62d Congress, 2d Session.
HEADDEN, W. P. "Deterioration in the Quality of Sugar
Beets Due to Nitrates Formed in the Soil." Colo.
Sta. Bui. No. 183.
308 Appendix A
1912. LODGE, H. C. "The Sugar Schedule." Speech before
U. S. Senate, July 27, 1912.
1913. CRITTENDEN, F. H. "Principal Enemies of the Sugar
Beet." U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. of Ent., Bui. No. 43,
pp. 71.
PALMER, T. G. "The Sugar Beet Industry of the United
States." Published by the Author, Washington, D. C.
PALMER, T. G. "Reply to Criticism of Sugar at a
Glance." Published by the Author, Washington,
D.C.
BENZEL, H. H. "A Biochemical Study of the Curly-top
of Sugar Beets." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. of PL Ind.,
Bui. No. 277.
SHEPARD, J. H. "Sugar-beet Culture in South Dakota."
S. D. Sta. Bui. No. 142.
ABEL, M. H. "Sugar and Its Value as a Food." U. S.
Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 535.
EDSON. "Damping-off and Root Rot Parasites of Sugar
Beets." Phytopathology, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 76.
SMOOT, REED. "The Wilson-Underwood Tariff Bill and
the American Sugar Industry." Speech, U. S. Senate,
Aug. 19, 1913.
1914. TOWNSEND, C. O. "Leaf -spot, a Disease of the Sugar
Beet." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 618.
TOWNSEND, C. O. "Sugar-beet Growing under Humid
Conditions." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui.
No. 568.
TOWNSEND, C. O. "Sugar-beet Growing under Irriga-
tion." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 567.
ANDREWS, FRANK. "Statistics of Sugar in the United
States and Its Insular Possessions, 1881-1912." U. S.
Dept. of Agr., Bui. No. 66.
SHAW, H. B. "Thrips as Pollinators of Beet Flowers."
U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bui. No. 104.
KNORR, F. ' ' Irrigated Field Crops in Western Nebraska."
Neb. Sta. Bui. No. 141, pp. 18-21.
1915. HARRIS, F. S. "The Commercial Production of Sugar
Beet Seed in Utah." Utah Sta. Bui. No. 136.
EDSON, H. A. "Seedling Diseases of Sugar Beets and
their Relation to the Root-rot and Crown Rot." Jour.
Agr. Res., Vol. 4, pp. 135-168 (May 15, 1915).
Appendix A 309
1915. BESSET, E. A., and BYARS, L. P. "The Control of Root-
knot." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 648.
HARRIS, F. S. "Effect of Alkali Salts in the Soil on the
Germination and Growth of Crops." Jour. Agr. Res.,
Vol. 5, pp. 1-53 (Oct. 4, 1915).
TOWNSEND, C. 0. "Field Studies of the Crown-gall
of Sugar Beets." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bui. No.
203.
MILLIKEN, F. B. "Grasshoppers and then* Control on
Sugar Beet and Truck Crops." U. S. Dept. of Agr.,
Farmers' Bui. No. 691.
SHAW, H. B. "Sugar Beets: Preventable Losses in Cul-
ture." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bui. No. 238.
INCE, J. W. "Progress Report of Sugar Beet Trials."
N. D. Sta. Bui. No. 113.
SHAW, H. B. "Loss in Tonnage of Sugar Beets by Dry-
ing." U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bui. No. 199.
HARTUNG, W. J., and SEVERIN, H. H. P. "Natural Ene-
mies of the Sugar-beet Leafhoppers in California."
Monthly Bui., Cal. Com. Hort., IV, pp. 277-280.
EDSON, H. A. " Histological Relations of Sugar-beet
Seedlings and Phoma betae." Jour. Agr. Res., Vol. 5,
pp. 55-58 (Oct. 4, 1915).
POOL, V. W., and McKAT, M. B. "Phoma betae on the
Leaves of the Sugar Beet." Jour. Agr. Res., Vol. 4,
pp. 169-177 (May 14, 1915).
1916. PRITCHARD, F. J. " Some Recent Investigations in Sugar
Beet Breeding." Bot. Gaz., Vol. 41, No. 6, pp. 425-
465 (Dec., 1916).
PRITCHARD, F. J., and LONGLT, L. E. "Experiments in
Transplanting Sugar Beets." Jour. Am. Soc. Agron.,
Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 106-110.
SHAW, H. B. " Control of the Sugar-beet Nematode.1;
U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 772.
POOL, V. W., and McKAY, M. B. " Relation of Stomatal
Movement to Infection by Cercospora beticola."
Jour. Agr. Res., Vol. 5, pp. 1011-1038 (Feb. 28,
1916).
POOL, V. W., and McKAY, M. B. "Climatic Conditions
as Related to Cercospora beticola." Jour. Agr. Res.,
Vol. 6, pp. 21-60 (Apr. 3, 1916).
310 Appendix A
1916. PRITCHARD, F. J. "Correlations between Morphological
Characters and the Saccharine Content of Sugar
Beets." Am. Jour. Botany, Vol. 3, pp. 361-376 (July,
1916).
HARRIS, F. S., and HOGENSON, J. C. "Some Correlations
in Sugar Beets." Genetics, Vol. I, pp. 334-347 (July,
1916).
PRITCHARD, F. J. "Some Recent Investigations in Sugar-
beet Breeding." Science, N. S., 43, p. 219.
PECK, F. W. "The Cost of Producing Sugar Beets."
Minn. Sta. Bui. No. 154.
TOWNSEND, C. O. "The Present Status of the Sugar-
beet Seed Industry in the United States." U. S. Dept.
of Agr. Yearbook, 1916, pp. 399-410.
WHITE, WM. H. "The Sugar-beet Thrips." U. S. Dept.
of Agr., Bui. No. 421.
1917. Federal Trade Commission, "Report on the Beet-sugar
Industry in the United States." Govt. Printing Office.
HARRIS, F. S. "The Irrigation of Sugar Beets." Utah
Sta. Bui. No. 146.
BALL, E. D. "The Beet Leafhopper and the Curly-leaf
Disease That It Transmits." Utah Sta. Bui. No.
155.
TOWNSEND, C. 0., and GORE, H. C. "Sugar-beet Syrup."
U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bui. No. 823.
ELLIOTT, PERRY. "Production of Sugar in the United
States and Foreign Countries." U. S. Dept. of Agr.,
Bui. No. 473.
SHEPARD, J. H., and SHERWOOD, R. C. "Sugar Beets in
South Dakota." S. D. Bui. No. 173.
ADAMS, R. L. "Fundamentals of Sugar-beet Culture
under California Conditions." Calif. Sta. Cir. 165.
PETRIKING, W. L. "The Beet Sugar Industry and Live
Stock Production." Great Western Sugar Co., Agr.
Dept., Bui. No. 2 (Jan., 1917).
PALMER, T. G. "Questions and Answers Concerning
Sugar." Published by the Author, Washington, D. C.
The World's Sugar Supply. Published by the National
Bank of Commerce in N. Y. (Dec., 1917).
ANDREW, FRANK. " Sugar Supply of the United States."
U. S. Dept. of Agr. Yearbook, 1917, pp. 447-460.
Appendix A 311
1918. WOJTA, J. F., and WRIGHT, A. H. " How to Succeed with
Sugar Beets." Wis. Ext. Serv. Circular No. 103.
JAVITZ, C. A., and MASON, A. W. "Sugar Beets."
Ontario Agr. College Bui. No. 262.
MOORHOUSE, L. A., et al. " Farm Practice in Growing
Sugar Beets for Three Districts in Utah and Idaho,
1914-1915.': U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bui. No. 693.
APPENDIX B
AMERICAN BEET-SUGAR COMPANIES AND FAC-
TORIES, JANUARY, 1918
Compiled by Truman G. Palmer
Alameda Sugar Company. Executive Office, 310 Sansome
Street, San Francisco, California, Capital $1,500,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Alvarado, Calif 1870 800 tons
Rebuilt, 1879; 1887
Amalgamated Sugar Company. Executive Office, Ogden, Utah.
Capital, $5,824,000.
Factories Erected Capacity
Ogden, Utah 1898 1,000 tons
Logan, Utah 1901 600 tons
Lewiston, Utah 1905 800 tons
Burley, Idaho 1912 600 tons
Twin Falls, Idaho 1916 600 tons
Brigham City, Utah .... 1916 500 tons
Paul, Idaho 1917 500 tons
Smithfield, Utah 1917 500 tons
American Beet Sugar Company. Executive Office, 32 Nassau
Street, New York City. Capital, $20,000,000.
Factories Erected Capacity
Grand Island, Neb 1890 500 tons
Chino, Calif 1891 1,100 tons
Oxnard, Calif 1898 3,000 tons
Rocky Ford, Colo 1900 1,800 tons
Lamar, Colo 1905 500 tons
Las Animas, Colo 1907 1,000 tons
312
Appendix B 313
Anaheim Sugar Company. Executive Office, Merchants Na-
tional Bank Building, Los Angeles, Calif. Capital, $547,800
Factory Erected Capacity
Anaheim, Calif 1911 1,200 tons
Chippewa Sugar Refining Company. Executive Office, 428
Grand Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis. Capital, $500,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Chippewa Falls, Wis 1904 600 tons
Columbia Sugar Company. Executive Office, Bay City, Mich.
Capital, $3,000,000.
Factories Erected Capacity
Bay City, Mich 1901 1,500 tons
Paulding, Ohio 1910 900 tons
Continental Sugar Company. Executive Office, 520 Lafayette
Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan. Capital, $1,732,400.
Factories Erected Capacity
Fremont, Ohio 1900 468 tons
Blissfield, Mich 1905 868 tons
Findlay, Ohio 1911 871 tons
Delta Beet Sugar Corporation. Executive Office, Delta, Utah.
Temporary Corporation.
Factory Erected Capacity
Delta, Utah 1917 1,000 tons
Garden City Sugar and Land Company. Executive Office, Mining
Exchange Building, Colorado Springs, Colo. Capital,
$2,677,200.
Factory Erected Capacity
Garden City, Kansas .... 1906 1,000 tons
314 Appendix B
Great Western Sugar Company. Executive Office, Sugar Build-
ing, Denver, Colo. Capital, $30,000,000.
Factories Erected Capacity
Loveland, Colo 1901 1,950 tons
Greeley, Ohio 1902 1,050 tons
Eaton, Colo 1902 1,200 rons
Ft. Collins, Colo 1903 2,150 tons
Windsor, Colo 1903 1,150 tons
Longmont, Colo 1903 2,350 tons
Sterling, Colo 1905 1,050 tons
Brush, Colo 1906 1,100 tons
Ft. Morgan, Colo 1906 1,200 tons
Billings, Mont 1906 2,000 tons
Scottsbluff, Neb 1910 2,000 tons
Lovell, Wyoming 1916 600 tons
Gering, Neb 1916 1,100 tons
Bayard, Neb 1917 1,000 tons
Missoula, Mont 1917 1,000 tons
Brighton, Colo 1917 1,000 tons
Holland-St. Louis Sugar Company. Executive Office, Holland,
Mich. Capital, $1,695,340.
Factories Erected Capacity
Holland, Mich 1899 500 tons
St. Louis, Mich 1903 600 tons
Decatur, Ind 1912 800 tons
Holly Sugar Corporation. Executive Office, Boston Building,
Denver, Colo. Capital, $4,781,700 outstanding.
Factories Erected Capacity
Grand Junction, Colo.1 . . . 1899 700 tons
Swink, Colo 1906 1,200 tons
Huntington Beach, Calif. . . 1911 1,200 tons
Independent Sugar Company. Executive Office, Bay City,
Michigan.
Factory Erected Capacity
Marine City, Mich 1900 600 tons
1 Leased by Holly Sugar Corporation.
Appendix B 315
Iowa Sugar Company. Executive Office, Waverly, Iowa. Capi-
tal, $550,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Waverly, Iowa 1907 500 tons
Layton Sugar Company. Executive Office, Layton, Utah. Capi-
tal, $500,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Layton, Utah 1915 700 tons
Los Alamitos Sugar Company. Executive Office, Pacific Electric
Building, Los Angeles, Calif. Capital, $500,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Los Alamitos, Calif 1897 800 tons
Menominee River Sugar Company. Executive Office, Menomi-
nee, Mich. Capital, $825,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Menominee, Mich 1903 1,200 tons
Michigan Sugar Company. Executive Office, Union Trust Build-
ing, Detroit, Mich. Capital, $11,174,600.
Factories Erected Capacity
Bay City, Mich 1899 1,400 tons
Alma, Mich 1899 1,400 tons
Caro, Mich 1899 1,200 tons
Carrollton, Mich 1902 900 tons
Croswell, Mich 1902 750 tons
Sebewaing, Mich 1902 850 tons
Minnesota Sugar Company. Executive Office, Chaska, Minn.
Capital, $1,200,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Chaska, Minn 1906 800 tons
Mt. Clemens Sugar Company. Executive Office, Bay City,
Mich. Capital, $600,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Mt. Clemens, Mich. 1902 600 tons
316 Appendix B
National Sugar Manufacturing Company. Executive Office,
Sugar City, Colo. Capital, $750,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Sugar City, Colo . 1900 500 tons
Nevada-Utah Sugar Company. Executive Office, Salt Lake City,
Utah. Capital, $500,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Fallon, Nevada 1911 500 tons
(Control acquired by Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 1916)
Northern Sugar Corporation. Executive Office, Union Trust
Building, Detroit, Mich. Capital, $1,250,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Mason City, Iowa 1917 1,200 tons
Ohio Sugar Company. Executive Office, Ottawa, Ohio. Capital,
$400,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Ottawa, Ohio ....... 1912 600 tons
Remodeled 1917
Owosso Sugar Company. Executive Office, Bay City, Mich.
Capital, $1,875,000.
Factories Erected Capacity
Lansing, Mich 1901 600 tons
Owosso, Mich 1903 1,200 tons
Pacific Sugar Corporation. Executive Office, 74 New Montgom-
ery Street, San Francisco, Calif. Capital, $2,000,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Tracy, Calif 1917 600 tons
Appendix B 317
People's Sugar Company. Executive Office, 712 Mclntyre
Building, Salt Lake City, Utah. Capital, $765,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Moroni, Utah 1917 400 tons
Pingree Sugar Company. Executive Office, 311 California Street,
San Francisco, Calif. Capital, $1,000,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Corcoran, Calif 1908 600 tons
Charles Pope. Executive Office, 332 South Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, 111.
Factory Erected Capacity
Riverdale, 111 1905 500 tons
Rock County Sugar Company. Executive Office, Bay City, Mich.
Capital, $800,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Janesville, Wis 1904 700 tons
Sacramento Valley Sugar Company. Executive Office, 602 I. W.
Hellman Building, Los Angeles, Calif. Capital, $2,210,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Hamilton City, Calif 1906 700 tons
San Joaquin Valley Sugar Company. Executive Office, 311
California Street, San Francisco, Calif. Capital, $1,000,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Visalia, Calif 1906 400 tons
Santa Ana Sugar Company. Executive Office, Boston Building,
Denver, Colo. Capital, $596,200.
Factory Erected Capacity
Dyer, Calif 1912 1,200 tons
(P. O. address, Santa Ana,
Calif.)
318 Appendix B
Sheridan Sugar Company. Executive Office, Boston Building,
Denver, Colo. Capital, $730,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Sheridan, Wyo 1915 900 tons
Southern California Sugar Company. Executive Office, Boston
Building, Denver, Colorado. Capital, $500,000 outstand-
ing.
Factory Erected Capacity
New Delhi, Calif 1908 600 tons
(P. O. address, Santa Ana,
Calif.)
(Acquired by Holly Sugar Corporation, 1916.)
Spreckels Sugar Company. Executive Office, 60 California St.,
San Francisco, Calif. Capital, $5,000,000.
Factories Erected Capacity
Spreckels, Calif 1899 4,500 tons
Manteca, Calif. 1917 1,200 tons
Toledo Sugar Company. Executive Office, Union Trust Build-
ing, Detroit, Mich. Capital, $485,900.
Factory Erected Capacity
Toledo, Ohio 1912 1,100 tons
Union Sugar Company. Executive Office, 310 Sansome Street,
San Francisco, Calif. Capital, $3,000,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Betteravia, Calif 1899 1,000 tons
United States Sugar Company. Executive Office, 428 Grand
Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis. Capital, $700,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Madison, Wis 1905 600 tons
Appendix B 319
Utah-Idaho Sugar Company. Executive Office, Salt Lake City,
Utah. Capital, $23,626,350 issued.
Factories Erected Capacity
Lehi, Utah 1891 1,200 tons
Garland, Utah 1903 900 tons
Idaho Falls, Idaho 1903 900 tons
Blackfoot, Idaho 1904 800 tons
Sugar, Idaho 1904 900 tons
Elsinore, Utah 1911 750 tons
Payson, Utah 1913 750 tons
Spanish Fork, Utah .... 1916 1,000 tons
West Jordan, Utah 1916 750 tons
Grant's Pass, Ore 1916 750 tons
Shelley, Idaho 1917 750 tons
North Yakima, Wash 1917 750 tons
West Bay City Sugar Company. Executive Office, Bay City,
W. S., Mich. Capital, $200,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
West Bay City, Mich 1899 900 tons
West Cache Sugar Company. Executive Office, 39 Main Street,
Logan, Utah. Capital, $800,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Cornish, Utah 1917 600 tons
Wisconsin Sugar Company. Executive Office, 428 Grand Avenue,
Milwaukee, Wis. Capital, $800,000.
Factory Erected Capacity
Menomonee Falls, Wis. . . . 1897 600 tons
Rebuilt 1901
Wyoming Sugar Company. Executive Office, 618 David Eccles
Building, Ogden, Utah. Capital, $1,000,000
Factory Erected Capacity
Worland, Wyo 1917 600 tons
320
Appendix C
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INDEX
Achard produced first commercial
sugar, 10.
Acid soils, 68.
Adaptations of beets, climatic, 37.
Agriculture stabilized by beets, 251.
Air in the soil, 62.
Alkali, effect on beets, 66, 67.
Arabian sugar, first record of, 7.
Army- worms, 187-189.
Arundo saccharifera, 268.
Availability of plant food in soil,
Bacteria in the soil, 70.
Bacterium teutlium Met., 202. V
Bamboo as source of sugar, 7. *^
Beet : \
by-products :
composition of, 160.
relation to live-stock industry,
158.
contracts :
advantages of, 92.
types of, 94.
crown and top, proportions, 159.
cultivators, 124.
culture :
improves labor problem, 255.
increases business, 256.
diseases, 198-204.
dumps, 156.
farmer, personal requirements of,
50.
flower and seed description, 34.
harvesting implements, 151-154.
insect pests of, 184-198.
land, depth to plow, 108.
leafhopper, 197.
Beet: — Continued
molasses as a by-product, 177-
181.
plows, 151, 152, 154.
pulp, 168-176.
dry, 169, 173.
loss in siloing, 168.
racks, types of, 155.
-root aphis (Pemphigus betae
Doane), 194.
-rust (Uromyces betae Kuhn), 202.
amount and depth to sow, 115.
importation of, 216-219.
storage of sugar in, 29, 30.
-sugar extraction, opposition to,
10.
-sugar factories, 3.
of America, 312.
-sugar industry, 1.
causes of early failures, 18.
development of, 6.
legislation on, in U. S., 19, 21.
Beetles harmful to beets, 193.
Beet-raising :
and community welfare, 250-257.
increased land value by, 2.
Beets :
adapted to irrigation farming,
126.
and national independence, 257.
botanical grouping, 22.
climatic adaptation, 37, 43.
commercial fertilizer for, 77-81.
cultivation of, 123.
early history of, 8.
economic adaptation, 44.
educational value of culture, 254.
333
334
Index
Beets: — Continued
first used as stock food, 9.
hauling to market, 155.
plant food requirements of, 74.
preparation for thinning, 117.
promote good farming, 252.
shape, effect of irrigation on, 143.
size, irrigation applications for,
136.
soil adaptation, 43.
storing at factory, 258.
suggestive rotations for, 89, 90.
time to irrigate, 133-136.
time to prepare seed-bed for, 106.
washing and weighing at factory,
260.
water requirements of, 131.
Beet-sugar :
industry :
recent developments, 20, 21.
successes in U. S., first, 19.
production of U. S. by states, 322.
production of various countries,
326.
Beet tops, 158-168.
composition of, 159, 160.
hay from, 162.
methods of feeding, 161, 162.
silage from, feeding, 166-168.
siloing, 163-166.
value of, as food, 159.
yield of, 158, 159.
Bengal, sugar-cane in, 7.
Beta vulgaris species of plants, 22.
Blister-beetles, 187.
Blocking and thinning beets, 118.
Botanical grouping of beets, 22.
Boys and girls benefited by beet
raising, 4.
Brazil, sugar-cane in, 7.
Breeding sugar-beet seed, 221.
Business :
increases with beet culture, 256.
stabilized by beet raising, 4.
By-products of :
seed production, 228.
sugar-beets, 158-183.
California, first successful beet
factories, 19.
Cane-sugar (see sugar-cane).
Capital requirements of beets, 48.
Caradrina (laphygmd) exigua Hbn.,
187.
Cattle, feeding beet by-products to,
161, 166, 167, 170-174, 178-
180.
Centrifuging the massecuite, 264.
Cercospora beticola Sacc., 199.
Children profit from beet culture,
255.
China, sugar-cane in, 7.
Chlorophyll, 28.
Chrysomelidae, 193.
Classification of soils, 57.
Climate, effect on quality of beets,
208, 209.
Climatic adaptation of beets, 37-43.
Commercial :
extraction of sugar, first, 10.
fertilizer for beets, 77-81.
production of beet seed, 223.
use of sugar, first, 8.
Common army-worm, 188.
Community benefited by beet
raising, 4.
Competing crops of beets, 44.
Composition of :
sugar, 276.
sugar-beet, 160.
by-products, 160.
tops, 159.
Consumption of :
sugar in U. S., 5.
world sugar supply, 284-286.
Contracts :
for labor on sugar-beets, sample
of, 100.
to raise beets :
advantages of, 92.
items included in, 93.
samples of, 95-100.
types of, 94.
Correlation, size and sugar content
of beet, 33.
Index
335
Cossettes, 261.
Cost:
and profit on beets, relation to
acres raised, 237-240.
of growing beets, 231-249.
based on time, 240-246.
in various sections, 234.
of producing beet seed, 230.
Crop :
competition of sugar-beets, 44.
rotations :
principles governing, 88.
reasons for, 86.
Crowns and tops of beets, pro-
portion of, 159.
Crystallizing beet sirup at factory,
264.
Cuba, sugar-cane in, 8.
Cultivating beets, 123.
Cultivation previous to thinning,
118.
Curly-top or curly-leaf of beets,
197.
Cutworms, 190.
Cyprus, sugar-cane in, 7.
Damping-off disease, 204.
Deep plowing best for beets, 2.
Depth to plow beet land, 109.
Development of beet-sugar in-
dustry, 6.
Digging :
processes of, 151.
time to begin, 149, 150.
Dingley Act of 1897, favorable
effect, 19.
Disaccharids, 276.
Diseases of beets, 198-204.
Drainage :
reasons for, effects of, 144, 145.
system, installing, 147.
Drains, kinds of, 146.
Dried sugar-beet pulp, 169.
Drought in early fall, danger from,
150.
Drying, effect on quality of beets,
211.
Dyer sugar-beet factory first success
in U.S., 19.
Economic adaptation of beets, 44.
Elateridae (Wireworms), 192.
Euphrates valley, sugar-cane in,
7.
European :
beet-sugar industry, early, 15.
countries, early sugar supply, 8.
introduction of sugar-cane, 7.
sugar factories, number of, 3.
Eutettix tenella Baker, 197.
Extracting beet juice in factory,
261.
Extraction of beet-sugar :
first method, 9.
percentage recovered now, 266.
Factories :
for beets, early failures in U. 8.,
16-18.
in U. S. and Europe, 3.
Factors affecting quality of beets,
205-212.
Factory :
essential factors for success, 52.
first in U. S., 16.
process of sugar making, 258-268.
Failures of early beet industry in
U. S., 16-18.
Fall army-worm, 189.
Fall plowing for sugar-beets, 106.
Farming improved by beet culture,
252.
Farm manure :
conserving, 84.
for sugar-beets, 82.
Feeding :
beet pulp to :
cattle, 170-174.
horses, 175.
pigs, 175.
sheep, 174, 175.
beet tops :
methods, 161, 162.
silage from, 166-168.
336
Index
Fertility :
determination of soil, 76.
maintenance of, 75.
of soil, elements of, 69.
requirements of beets, 74.
Fertilizer :
commercial, for beets, 77-81.
home-mixing of, 82.
indirect, 81.
Flea-beetles, 193.
Flower and seed of sugar-beets, 34.
Food, value of sugar as, 279-283.
Frederick the Great fostered beet-
sugar industry, 11.
Frederick William III aided first
beet factory, 11.
Freezing :
and heating of siloed beets, 157.
effect on quality of beets, 211.
-in of beets, 149.
French encouragement to beet-
sugar industry, 11-13.
Frost :
danger during harvest, 149.
effect on growing beets, 39.
Fruits :
as source of sweet, 7.
sugar in, 278.
German encouragement to beet-
sugar industry, 13, 15.
Jrermination power of seed, im-
portance of, 214, 218.
Grasshoppers, 193.
Green-manures, use of, 85.
Growth :
habit of sugar-beets, 23.
of beet-sugar industry, 8.
of beet plant, 26-29.
of industry, factors affecting, 2.
Guadeloupe, sugar-cane in, 8.
Gypsum as a fertilizer, 81.
Hail, effect on beet growing, 42.
Harvesting :
and threshing beet seed, 227.
beets, time of, 148-150.
Harvesting: — Continued
implements, 151-154.
processes of, 151.
Hauling beets, 155.
Hay from sugar-beet tops, 162.
Heart-rot of beets (Phoma betae
Frank), 200.
Heating and freezing of siloed
beets, 157.
Heat in the soil, 63.
Heterodera schachtii Schmidt, 195.
Hoeing sugar-beets, importance
of, 122.
Holding water off to bring maturity,
150.
Home-mixing of fertilizer, 82.
Honey formerly chief source of
sweet, 7.
Horses, feeding beet by-products
to, 168, 175, 180.
Humus in the soil, 64.
Implements for :
harvesting beets, 151-154.
preparing beet seed-bed, 110.
Importation of beet seed, 216,
217.
Increase of sugar in beets, 6.
India, as source of sugar, 7.
Indirect fertilizers, 81.
Injury to beets by insect pests,
184.
Insecticides, 186.
Insect pests of beets, 184-198.
Iron sulfate as a fertilizer, 81.
Irrigation :
amount to give beets, 131-133.
before plowing, benefits, 110.
effect on beet, 137-144.
methods of, 130.
of beets, 126-144.
preparation of land for, 129.
size of each application, 136.
time to apply to beets, 133-136.
water :
sources of, 127.
terms used with, 129.
Index
337
Juice of beets :
evaporation, 263.
extraction, 261.
purification, 262.
Labor :
agreement or contract, sample of,
100.
and cost of beet production, 240-
246.
furnished boys and girls by beets,
4.
problem in beet growing, 45.
stabilized by beet growing, 255.
Lachnosternaspp. (white grubs), 191.
Land :
drainage, 144-147.
values increased by beet raising,
2.
Laphygma frugiperda S. and A., 189.
Leaf-beetles, 193.
Leafhopper Eutettix tenella Baker,
197.
Leaf-spot Cercospora beticola Sacc.,
199.
Legislation :
factor in beet-sugar industry, 1.
in U. S., effect on sugar industry,
19, 21.
unfavorable to early beet in-
dustry, 13.
Legumes as green-manure, 85.
Length of beets, effect of irrigation
on, 141.
Leucania unipuncta Haw., 188.
Leveling land for irrigation, 129.
Lexostege sp., 190.
Lifting or loosening beet im-
plements, 151, 152.
Lime :
as a by-product of beet factory,
181.
as a fertilizer, 68, 81.
Livestock :
feeding beet pulp to, 169-176.
feeding beet-tops to, 161, 162,
166, 167, 168.
z
Livestock: — Continued
relation to beet-sugar industry,
158.
Losses in weight, harvesting beets,
154.
Louisiana, sugar-cane in, 8.
Madeira, sugar-cane introduced
into, 7.
Manure :
for sugar-beets, 82.
how best to use, 84.
storing of, 84.
Manuring :
and rotations, 73-91.
with green-manure, 85.
Marggraf first obtained beet-sugar,
9.
Martinique, sugar-cane in, 8.
Massachusetts, first beet factory
of, 16.
Massecuite, centrifuging, 264.
Maturity, indications of, in beet,
149.
Mechanical harvesters or toppers,
154.
Medicine, use of sugar as, 6.
Mexico, sugar-cane in, 8.
Moisture :
effect on beet growing, 40, 42.
in the soil, 64.
Molasses, feeding value and com-
position, 177-181.
Monosaccharids, 276.
Moors took sugar-cane to Spain, 7.
Mother beets :
planting of, 225.
testing for quality, 221, 222.
Napoleon encouraged beet-sugar
industry, 11, 12.
National independence increased
by home sugar, 4.
Natural sugars, 277, 278.
Nebraska, first sugar factories of,
19.
Nematode, sugar-beet, 195.
338
Index
Nitrogen fertilizer for beets, 74, 78.
Noctuidae (cutworms), 190.
Number of beet factories in U. S.
and Europe, 3.
Oliver de Serres records sweet-
ness of beets, 9.
Oospora scabies Thaxt., 201.
Organic matter in the soil, 63.
Origin of soils, 56.
Osmosis, 27.
Oxnard Brothers, early interest in
beet industry, 19.
Pemphigus betae Doane, 194.
Persia, sugar-cane in, 7.
Pests and diseases of beets, 184-
204.
Phoma, 204.
Phoma betae Frank, 200.
Phosphoric acid fertilizer for beets,
74, 77, 79.
Pigs, feeding beet by-products to,
167, 168, 175, 176, 180, 181.
Plant-breeding, aid of to beets, 6.
Plant-food :
in the soil, 69.
requirements of beets, 74.
Planting :
beet seed, 113-115.
mothers or stecklinge, 225.
Pliny on sugar in Arabia and
India, 7.
Plowing :
best depths for beets, 108.
reasons for thoroughness in, 104.
time of, for beets, 106.
Population increases with beet
culture, 256.
Portugal, King of, dispersed sugar-
cane, 7.
Potash fertilizer for beets, 74, 77,
80.
Precipitation, effect on beet grow-
ing, 42.
Preparation of beet land for irriga-
tion, 129.
Preparing seed-bed, effect of pre-
vious crop, 103.
Price of land increased by beet
raising, 2.
Prices of first sugar, 8.
Profits from seed production, 230.
Prosperity follows beet culture, 256.
Puddled soil. 62.
Pulp from sugar-beets, 168-176.
dried, 169.
loss in siloing, 168.
Pythium, 204.
Quality of beets, factors effecting,
205-212.
Rainfall, effect on beet growing,
40, 42.
Rhizoctonia of beet, 203, 204.
Ripening :
before digging time, danger of,
150.
indications of, 149.
period, water requirements, 150.
Rolling beet seed-bed, 111, 116,
118.
Root-rot or Rhizoctonia, 203.
Root tips and waste sugar-beets
for feeding, 176.
Rotations, 86-91.
•4
Salt as a fertilizer, 81.
Sampling and taring beets on
delivery, 156.
San Domingo, sugar cane in, 8.
Scab of beet (Oospora scabies Thaxt.) ,
201.
Science, aid to beet-sugar industry,
6.
Sedentary soils, 58.
Seed:
amount to sow, 114, 115.
and flower of sugar-beet, 34.
-bed:
final preparation, 111.
preparation and planting, 103-
116.
Index
339
Seed: — Continued
crop, care during growth, 226.
factors showing quality, 112.
harvesting and threshing of, 227.
importation of, 216-219.
production, 213-230.
by-products of, 228.
commercial method of, 223.
in U. S., 216.
quality, importance of, 213, 214.
raising, profits from, 230.
sources of, 215.
yield of, 229.
Selection of mother beets, 221, 222.
Sheep, feeding beet by-products to,
167, 174, 175, 180.
Sicily, sugar-cane in, 7.
Signs of ripening in beet, 149.
Silage from beet tops, use of, 166-
168.
Siloing :
beets, 157.
beet tops, 163-166.
stecklinge, 224.
Single-germ seed, 220.
Sirup as source of sweet, 7.
Size of beet and sugar content, 33.
Slicing beets in factory, 261.
Soft-rot of beets (Bacterium teut-
lium Met.), 202.
Soil:
acidity, 68.
adaptation of beets, 43.
air in, 62.
alkali, 66.
and subsoil, 58.
bacteria of, 70.
determining fertilizer needs of,
76.
effect on quality of beets, 210.
fertility :
elements of, 69.
maintenance of, 75.
heat, 63.
moisture, 64.
organic matter of, 63.
organisms, 70.
Soil: — Continued
plant food in, 69.
relation to beet culture, 54, 55.
structure, 61.
texture, 59, 60.
tilth, improvement of, 61.
Soils :
adapted to sugar-beets, 71.
classification of, 57.
origin of, 56.
Soot as a fertilizer, 81.
Spain, sugar-cane taken to early, 7.
Spreckels early sugar factory, 19.
Stand of beets, importance of, 115,
121.
Stecklinge, 223, 225.
Steffen process of extracting sugar,
265.
Stomata, 28.
Storage :
of beets, effect on quality, 211,
212.
of sugar in beet, 29, 30.
Storing :
beets at factory, 258.
stecklinge, 224.
Structure of soils, 61.
Subsoil, 58.
Subsoiling for beets, 109.
Successful commercial beet sugar
production in U. S., 18-21.
Sucrose in beet, effect of irrigation
on, 139, 140.
Sugar :
consumption of per capita, 284-
286.
content, relation to size of beet,
33.
early sources and prices of, 8.
early use of, 6.
extraction :
early improvements in, 13.
extraction from beets :
first, 9.
in U. S. by states, 322.
in various countries, 326.
opposition to, early, 10.
340
Index
Sugar: — Continued
factories :
beet, 3.
in America, present, 312.
rapid growth in U. S., 20.
first commercial extraction from
beets 10.
future supply of, 291.
in beet :
factors affecting, 31, 32.
first discovery, 9.
increase in consumption, 283.
industry :
causes of early failures, 18.
in U. S., early, 16.
in nature, 277, 278.
introduction into :
commerce, 8.
diet of Europeans, 8.
kinds and properties, 275.
making of, 258-267.
percentage extracted from beets,
266.
production of :
Europe, early, 15.
U. S., 292. yearly, 320-322.
World, 287-291, 326.
properties of, 276.
storage of, in beets, 29, 30, 150.
trade, first competition in, 8.
use as medicine, 6.
use confined to modern times, 6.
value as a food, 279-283.
wholesale prices monthly and
yearly, 324.
Sugar-beet :
by-products, 158-183.
composition of, 160, 182.
importance of, 158.
conditions for growing, 36-53.
contracts :
items included, 93.
sample of, 95-100.
diseases, 198-204.
factories :
early failures in U. S., 16-18.
of America, 312.
Sugar-beet: — Continued
factories: — Continued
of the U. S. by states, 322.
factors affecting sugar in, 31,
32.
factory :
first in U. S., 16, 17.
requirements for success, 52.
flowering habits, 34.
habit of growth, 23.
industry :
early decline of, 12.
encouraged by Napoleon, 11,
12.
favorable conditions for growth
in Germany, 13, 15.
first success in U. S., 19.
fostered by Frederick the
Great, 11.
growth of, 12, 13, 15.
recent developments, 20, 21.
molasses as a by-product, 177-
181.
mosaic, 203.
nematode, 195.
pests and diseases, 184-204.
plant :
description of, 24, 25.
elements essential to growth,
27.
growth and feeding habits,
26-29.
production :
of U. S. yearly by states, 322.
of world, 326.
pulp, 168-176.
dry, 169, 173.
loss in siloing, 168.
raising, personal requirements for,
50.
seed:
breeding, 221.
harvesting and threshing, 227.
importation, 216-219.
production, 213-230.
commercial, 223.
of the U. S., 216.
Index
341
Sugar-beet: — Continued
seed: — Continued
quality, indications of, 112.
sources of, 215.
time to plant, 113.
yield and profit, 229, 230.
soil, selection of, 71.
tops, 158-168.
composition of, 159, 160.
hay from, 162.
methods of feeding, 161, 162.
silage from, feeding of, 166-168.
siloing, 163-166.
types of, 219.
webworm, 190.
Sugar-beets :
and root tips, feeding of, 176.
a profitable crop, 2.
area raised in :
different countries, 326.
each state of U. S., 322.
blocking and thinning, 117-122.
botanical grouping, 22.
bring national independence, 257.
capital required to raise, 48.
cash crop, 4.
climatic adaptation, 37-43.
commercial fertilizer for, 77-81.
cost of production, 231-249.
early history of, 8.
economic conditions for grow-
ing, 44.
effect of irrigation on, 137-144.
farm manure for, 82.
fit in with grain production, 4.
furnish much stock feed, 4.
help weed problem, 4.
importance of stand to yield, 115.
increase yield of other crops, 4.
in U. S., first, 16.
irrigation of, 126-144.
labor problem of, 45.
origin of, 22.
plant food requirements of, 74.
quality in, 205-212.
relation to soil, 54, 55.
rotations for, 88.
Sugar-beeta: — Continued
soil adaptation, 43.
stabilize agriculture, 251.
time to plow for seed-bed, 106.
transportation requirements, 49.
water requirements, 131-133.
yield per acre :
different countries, 326.
of states of U. S., 322.
Sugar Bounty Act of 1890, favor-
able effect, 19.
Sugar-cane, 268-274.
adaptation of, 270.
cultural methods, 272.
description and varieties, 269.
extraction of sugar from, 274.
harvesting, 273.
in :
Brazil, 7.
Cuba, 8.
Cyprus, 7.
Euphrates Valley, 7.
Guadeloupe, 8.
Island of San Domingo, 8.
Louisiana, 8.
Martinique, 8.
Mexico, 8.
Persia, 7.
Sicily, 7.
Spain, 7.
Tigris Valley, 7.
introduced into Europe, 7.
production of the world, 330.
soils and manuring, 271.
yield of, 274.
Sunlight, effect on beet growing, 40.
Sweet of beets first recorded by
Oliver de Serres, 9.
Taring beets at receiving station,
156.
Temperature adaptation of beets,
37.
Temperature of soil, 63.
Texture of soils, 59, 60.
Theophrastus on sugar, 7.
Thermal adaptation of beets, 37.
342
Index
Thinning sugar-beets, 117-122.
Tigris Valley, sugar-cane in, 7.
Tilth of soil, improvement of,
61.
Time to harvest beets, 149, 150.
Tonnage increase of beets near
harvest time, 150.
Topping beets, 152-155.
Topping machines for beets, 154.
Tops :
and crowns of beets, proportion
of, 159.
height of, as influenced by irri-
gation, 144.
of beets, 158-168.
composition of, 159, 160.
value of, 159.
Transportation as a factor in beet
growing, 49.
Transported soils, 58.
Tychea brevicornis Hart, 195.
Types of beets, 219.
Utah, first sugar factories of, 16,
19.
Varieties of beets first recognized,
8, 9.
Varieties of sugar-beets, 219,
220.
Wagons used to haul beets, descrip-
tion of, 155.
Waste :
lime and minor by-products of
factory, 181-183.
sugar-beets and root tips, 176.
Water :
kinds of, in soils, 65.
-logged soil, 62.
measuring devices, 129.
withholding from beets before
harvest, 150.
Weeds, relation to beet industry, 4.
Weight :
increase in beet, effect of irri-
gation on, 141.
loss in beets during harvest, 154.
of beet, increase near harvest
time, 150.
White grubs, 191.
Wilson Act unfavorable to beet
sugar, 19.
Wind, effect on beet growing, 43.
Wireworms (Elateridae) , 192.
Work necessary to raise beets, 240-
246.
Yield of beets:
effect of distance apart of plants,
119, 121.
irrigation water, effect of, 132.
Yields :
increase on all crops with beet
culture, 253.
of sugar-beet seed, 228.
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