United States

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1795102764

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-179770

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: United States

Place of publication:: Washington

Publisher:: Gov. Pr. Off.

Year of publication:: 1928

Scope:: VII, 112 S

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Description of the growing of sugar beets and of the manufacture of beet sugar

Collection:: Economics Books

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

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