Sugar-Beet Growing Under Irrigation Page: 4
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FARMERS' BULLETIN 567.
freeze without injury. The great danger from low temperatures
at the end of the growing season is that the beets may be frozen
in the ground, making the harvesting of the crop difficult or even
impossible. To avoid this danger and the consequent loss that might
result from such a condition it is advisable to get the beets out of
the ground as soon as possible after they are ripe and to cover them
to avoid freezing or drying. Apparently beet roots are not injured
for sugar-making purposes by freezing, provided that they freeze
and remain frozen until they are put through the mill, but alternate
freezing and thawing causes them to decay and blacken, so that their
value for sugar making is materially decreased.
The amount of precipitation, the time and manner in which the
moisture falls, and the accompanying soil and weather conditions all
have a direct bearing upon crop production. It is a well-known fact
that a given amount of rainfall in a given locality may be ample for
good crop production, while the same amount of rainfall in another
locality may be entirely too small for satisfactory plant growth;
and, indeed, in any locality a certain amount of rainfall may produce
good crops in some fields and very poor crops in others.
Much depends upon the condition of the soil as to whether or not
it is able to receive and retain the moisture. A large number of
showers may show several inches of rainfall in the aggregate, and yet
they may have accomplished little, if any, good so far as crop pro-
duction is concerned, because they failed to moisten the ground to a
sufficient depth. On the other hand, one or more heavy, dashing
rains may show a satisfactory total rainfall for the season and at the
same time be entirely unsatisfactory from the standpoint of crop
production. Indeed, such rains may be more injurious than bene-
ficial, because of packing and crusting the ground. A record of the
total rainfall for a season, or even month by month, is of little value
unless we know the nature and amount of each precipitation. The
point of most vital importance is to have the ground in condition to
receive as much as possible of the moisture that falls upon it and then
to make every effort to retain that moisture in the soil.
The practice that prevails in some localities of letting the natural
moisture escape from the soil, with the idea that more water can be
applied when it is needed, is most pernicious and should not be fol-
lowed. The moisture that falls upon the ground in the form of
precipitation and is received and retained by the soil acts upon the
plant foods day after day and week after week and accomplishes
most for plant growth. There is a feeling of safety in having an
unlimited supply of water for irrigation purposes, but it should be
remembered that irrigation costs money and labor; precipitation is
nature's gift.
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Townsend, C. O. (Charles Orrin), 1863-1937. Sugar-Beet Growing Under Irrigation, pamphlet, 1914; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc85772/m1/4/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.