10
COSTS OF PRODUCING SUGAR BEETS
A few weeks after planting, when the plants appear above the
ground, and show about four leaves, horse-drawn cultivators are
run between the rows. The plants are then bunched or blocked and
thereafter thinned. The bunching is done with a hoe by chopping
out some of the plants in the row so that small bunches of two or
more beets are left about 10 to 12 inches apart. Thinning, the next
operation, consists in singling the plants left in the bunches so that
only the strongest remain in the ground. Sometimes two rows are
thinned at a time, the thinner going on his knees between the rows,
but as a rule only one row is thinned at a time, the thinner straddling
the row.
In irrigated sections the beets are watered from two to five times
during the season. The water is run down in furrows between the
rows made by horse-drawn cultivators, to which a furrowing shovel
has been attached. Because it is not practicable to cross cultivate,
weeds in the row must be removed by hand hoeing.
As the beet field must be kept free from weeds, one or several
hoeings are required, the number depending on the condition of the
land, the prevalence of weed infestation, and the effectiveness of
horse cultivation.
The crop is harvested when the beets have reached their full growth
and have a sugar content of not less than 12 per cent. Samples are
tested by the sugar companies, in order to determine the best time
for harvesting. The harvest season is July, August, and September
in California and October and November in the other beet regions.
In harvesting, the dirt around the beets is loosened and the beets
are slightly lifted from the ground by means of horse-drawn or
tractor-drawn beet plows or lifters especially designed for the pur-
pose. Hand workers follow the lifting machines, take the beets by
the tops, pull them completely out of the ground, knock them to-
gether to remove adhering soil, and throw them into windrows with
the tops all pointing one way. The beets are then ready for topping
which is done by hand with beet knives. The person doing the top-
ping takes hold of the beet root with one hand, cuts off the leaves
and the crown, and throws the beets into piles between the tao
windrows. From the piles the beets are loaded on wagons or trucks
and delivered to the factory or beet dump.
The beet tops are a valuable by-product of the crop, making good
feed for all kinds of livestock, including cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens,
and, to some extent, horses. The tops may be left scattered as feed
for livestock turned into the field or they may be gathered and fed in
racks or used for ensilage with straw, cornstalks, or other roughage.
The first method may involve loss of feed through trampling, but
the second method requires greater expenditure of labor.
BEET-SUGAR MANUFACTURE
Beet sugar is manufactured from beets in large factories centrally
located to the beet fields. The most efficient of these factories are
so well arranged and so thoroughly equipped with modern labor-
saving machinery that the use of manual labor is reduced to a mini-
mum. The beets, which are either hauled by the farmer directly from
the fields to the factory or are shipped to it by rail from the local beet
dumps, are emptied into V-shaped bins at the bottom of which is a
