Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 November 1897 — Preparation of Ground for Planting Sugar Beets. [ARTICLE]

Preparation of Ground for Planting Sugar Beets.

The increased interest in the sugar beet question has brought to the Experiment Station an unusually l ar g e number of samples of sugar beets from all sections of the state. Some of the beets were raised from seed furnished by the Station and some from seed obtained from other sources. In the case of the seed sent out from the Station, full working -directions were furnished. In most cases these directions were not followed, although those who requested free seed agreed to fully follow working directions. The most essential preliminary to raising good sugar beets is the proper preparation of the seed bed. The ground should be stirred to a depth of at least 16 inches. The best way to accomplish this is to turn a furrow about eight inches deep with a common plow and follow with a subsoil plow in the bottom of the furrow. Very few farmers wbo tried raising beets, report that they used a subsoil plow or any other implement for stirring the soil to a greater depth than eight inches. The result of this is seen in many of the samples received. Instead of a singleJap root there are a number of small roots, and instead of the beet growing well under ground, it extends so far above ground that “nearly one half of its weight is useless for sugar making purposes. Both these defects can be corrected by deep plowing and subsoiling. It is much better to do this plowing and subsoiling in the fall. We therefore advise all those who intend to experiment with sugar beets the next year or who intend to raise them for any purpose, to plow the land now, and be ready to plant as early as the season will permit in the spring. This early planting is a great advantage on the moderately light lands that are best adapted for sugar beets since it advances the crop to a stage where it can better withstand the usual dry summer season.

In the distribution of seed in the spring, the Station will give preference to those who ha vs land properly prepared. If farmers intend to try the raising of sugar beets it is of the utmost importance that the work be properly done in every respect. For every test not properly conducted and giving beets of poor quality is riot simply useless; it is directly injurious, since it seems to indicate that the locality is not adapted for beet culture. Badly conducted tests may be the means of keeping beet factories away from localities that are really well suited for the business. They will certainly never be the means of inducing capitalists to invest money in factories in any locality. The first step in the right direction is proper plowing and this can and ought to be done at once—Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Bulletin.

H. A. HUSTON,

Chemist.