HISTORY Table 1-2 (Continued)

Built Equipment

35

Remarks

-;�---

^{Location -}

I

^-

^o

riginal Construc

;

^{ion and}

I

--,- ----",----.

I --- - - -- �· --- -- -- --- - - .---

1\140

Fort Garry

I

Built by Manitoba Sugar P1'08. ^{cap. )}

1,700

tous.

(Winnipeg), Co., Ltd. Machinery Man. from Janesville, Wis.

1944

Ste. Hilaire, Cap .,

1,200

tons.

Que.

1050

Taber, Alta. Built by Canadian Sugar Factories, Ltd. Des. cap . ,

1 ,800

tona.

Built· by Quebec Provincial Government.

Silver scroll-type continu­

ous diffuser.

daily slicing capacity of the three factories in Alberta is as follows : Ray­

mond,

1450

tom ; Picture Butte,

1750

tons, and 'faber,

1800

tons.

Province of Manitoba. There is a single sugar-beet factory at Fort

Garry (Winnipeg) which is owned by the Manitoba Sugar Co., Ltd. This was built in

1940

from machinery moved from Janesvi11e, Wisconsin, and ha.s a present capacity of

1700

tons. It has operated continuously since

1940.

References and Notes

1.

A. Dahlberg, H. W., and Brewbaker, H. E . , "A Promising Sugar Beet Hybrid uf t.he Milpitas Wild Type X Commercial,"

Proc.

Am. Soc. Sugal' Bee! Tech., pp.

175-78 (1948 ) .

B . Dahlberg, H . W . , "American Beet Sugar i n

1775? " Sugar, 45, 2.5 (1950).

2.

Tay tor, Fred G., "A Saga of Sugar," Utah· Idaho Sugar Co.,

1944.

3 . The material for the tabula.r history is primarily from:

(a) United States Sugar Manufacturer's Aas. , Palmer, Truman G., "Concerning Sugar,"

1916.

and secondarily from

(b) War Food Administration, Office of Marketing Services, Sugar Branch, Feb.

1945,

"Beet Sugar Factories of the United States."

(c) Mr. Dan Gutleben and his news-letter,

The Sugar Tramp.

(d) Many individual sources of information within the industry.

General sources of information used withbut specific credit in preparing this chap­

ter are

a. Browne, Dr. C. A., ''The Centenary of the Beet Sugar Industry in the United States,"

Sugar Reference Book and Direcwry, 1937,

Russel1 Palmerl publisher.

b. Palmer, Trwnan G., "Concerning Sugar," op. cit.

c . Moroney, C. J., President, Spreckels Sugar Co.

GROWING SUGAR BEETS'

General. The sugar beet is a temperate-zone crop, and is grown in Eu­

rope, Asia, Australia, in North and South America, and in twenty-two of the United States, of which California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Mon­

tana, Nebraska, and Utah are the leading producers. Acreage planted to sugar beets in the United States has, in some years, exceeded one million

Figure 2-1. Root system of the beet plant.

acres. The average acre yield is about 12.5 tons, with an average sugar coo­

tent of 15.5 percent. In areas where soil and climate are unusually favorable, the yield per acre

is

far higher. Colorado crops have attained

16 tons

and

California, 18 tons per acre, annual averages. In individual cases, as high as 45 tons per acre have been produced.

The sugar beet is a member of the goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae) family, together with red beets, spinach, pigweed, lambs quarter, and Russian thistle. The species Beta vulgaris includes sugar beets, table beets, and

mangel-wurzels.

The Life Process of the Sugar Beet. t A consideration of the manner

<10 Compiled by Austin A. Armer.

t By Austin A. Armer, E. M. Hartmann, W. H. Buckingham, and R. L. Moore.

36

GROWING SUGAR BEETS 37 in which the sugar beet gro�s is helpful in understanding why the processor desires only the clean, fresh root, and suggests ways in which loss of quality and sugar content may be avoided.

Through its rootlets extending into the soil, the beet draws water and various other compounds containing elements, such as nitrogen, phos­

phorus, potassium, iron, calcium, silicon, copper, boron, and magnesium.

These materials are carried to the leaves, where, by photosynthesis, they react with carbon dioxide from the air to form the various compounds

Figure 2.2. Distribution of sugar and purity in a typical beet.

making up the plant. Some of them

;

including most of the sugar, are re­

turned to the root for storage.

Thus the percentage of sugar and purity in the leaves is very low, while the mature root contains a high percentage of sugar, and has a high purity.

The crown, the transition zone between root and leaves, has some of the characteristics of both. It has a considerable concentration of nutrients on the way to the leaves, sugar on its way to the root, and nonsugar products similar to those retained in the leaves. Therefore, the sugar in the crown is more costly for the processor to recover.

Figure

2-2

shows the sugar and purity distribution in the average beet.

Note that the sugar content of the crown averages about 10.5 percent, while that of the root

is

slightly above 16 percen�. The average ' purity of the crown is about 69 per cent, while that of the ropt is somewhat over 80 per-

38

BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

cent. It is also apparent that the sugar content and purity are lower in core and near the skin than in the other portions. Examination of a hon ...

zontal cross section of the root explains this. The core of the beet is rela­

tively dark and woody, and it is surrounded with rings of white, crisp sub­

stance alternating with more dark, woody rings, If a section containing both light and dark portions is examined microscopically, a view is obtained as in Figure 2-3. The white rings are seen to be composed of small egg­

shaped cells, consisting of a paper-like membrane, with a protoplasmic lining (L) and threads of protoplasm

(P)

immersed in a liquid solution�_

Sugar is stored in the solution contained in these cells, therefore the white:;', portions of the root are high in sugar content and purity, The darker core and rings are observed to contain bundles of fibrous tubes or ducts, CD) ,

L -...,,��rrI p --.=:<",,"

Figure

2-3.

Micro-section (horizontal plane) of a beet root.

through which water and nutrients from the soil pass on their way to the leaves . .A;; a result, they are of low sugar content and purity. Since the darker rings are in greater number in the core near the skin, it is seen that the core and skin are lower in sugar and purity.

PRODUCING THE SUGAR BEET CROP

The sugar beets are grown by the farmer, very often with the advice and help of the processor,

In the United States, all sugar beets are produced under contract. Four general types of contract have been used: (1) the fiat-rate, or Hfixed-price"

contract, (2) the contract by which the grower receives approximately 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of sugar and by-products

(3)

the contract with a sliding scale of payments to the grower, based on sugar content of the beets and net sales return, and

(4)

the sliding-scale contract with a fixed minimum price. At present only types (2) and (3) are used. ..

Examples of these two types are reproduced in Appendix

B.

GROWING SUGAR BEETS

39

The growing of sugar beets may be separated into a series of subjects, the discussion of which will occupy the balance of the chapter.

SEED PRODUCTION AND SEED PROCESSING

Sugar Beet Seed. Seed varieti� must produce high yields of roots, roots with high sugar content, and plants that are resistant to diseases.

Figure 2�4. A 6ugar�beet seed processing plant. Here the Beed is cleaned, decorti­

cated, screened, air-classified, and spray-treated.

40 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

The processor's agricultural department directs the production of seed by specialist growers, estimates the quantities required, and procures, processes "

and distributes it at the proper times.

Genetic problems involved in the production of desirable seed are the joint concern of the processor and cooperating agencies, chief of which is the

U.

S. Department of Agriculture. Plant-breeding programs are in con�

staut operation, and their achievements have been very substantial.

The processor receives sugar-beet seed from the producer exactly as harvested, except for the removal of foreign matter, and of seed smaller than n inch in diameter. Prior to

1942,

all beet seed was planted in this form, which the industry calls Hwhole seed." Since that time, there has been intensive development of methods for treatment of beet seed which

Figure 2�5. Left, original whole seed ball. Center, decorticated seed unit. Right, decorticated seed coated with fungicide and insect repellent.

are designed to strip the seed of the outer corky layers, to ·reduce all seeds to a uniform size, to reduce the number of seed germs per seed ball, and to treat the seed with fungicides and occasionally insect repellents.

At present, the seed issued by most beet-sugar companies undergoes the following treatments:

(I)

The seed is decorticated (de-corked).

(2)

After decortication, the seed is screened so that th e size range is limited to h to it inch. Other ranges occasionally employed are -A to -h, and

-h

to it inch.

(3) The screened product is passed through an air classifier, or over a gravity table. Undesirable seed pieces-those which are below a certain density, or which depart radically from a spherical shape--are rejected.

(4) Sometimes the product from the an- classifier or gravity table is spray coated with a mixture of fungicide and insect repellent.

(5) The final product is bagged for distribution to growers.

GROWING SUGAR BEETS 41

CULTURAL OPERATIONS

Preparation of the Seedbed.

Regardless of the quality of the seed, or the provisions made for caring for the crop later in its life, a satisfactory yield cannot be obtained unless the emerging plant has a favorable environ­

ment. Methods of preparing good seedbeds differ widely, and no one method will fit all conditioIlB.

Plowing is one of the fundamental operations in seedbed preparation, and deep pIowing is recommended for sugar beets. In some western areas, deep tillage has replaced the pIow, and

in

most cases it requires the use of heavy crawler-type tractors. Usually pIowing is done in the fall. The ground mellows during the fall and winter months, and in the spring it is disked and harrowed, and often planed. If the seedbed still appears to be too soft, it can be rolled with a land roller.

In far western areas where bed planting is used, the fonowing procedure is employed. In the early fall the ground is plowed or chiselled, disked and land-planed at least once. A lister throws up ridges in preparation for bed planting. These ridges are allowed to remain throughout the winter, and during early spring are shaped with a bed shaper, and are then ready for planting.

PLANTING

Time of planting depends upon the weather and the proposed harvest date. For example, a grower may decide to plant portions of his acreage at differe'nt times, so that he may harvest over a convenient interval. Such decisions are usually made in consultation with the processor's field super­

intendent, who coordinates the planting of several growers, since a wrongly chosen planting time may result in increased costs of field labor for thinning, weed control and irrigation,

in

:injury to the crop, or an undesired harvest date.

Likewise, the pattern of planting must anticipate subsequent cultural operations. The rows must be laid out to permit proper flow of irrigation water, and be spaced according to the plan of cultivation or harvesting.

In some cases, irrigation furrows are formed before planting, the seed later being deposited in one or two

_rows

on the intervening ridges. In other cases, a flat seedbed is prepared and planted, and the irrigation furrows formed later.

The spacing of rows varies in different localities. In Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin rows are uniformly spaced at intervals of

22

to 28 inches, while in the Rocky mountain states, 20- or 22-inch spacing is customary.

·Many growers in California plant their beets on beds, with row spacing on each bed varying from 12 to 16 inches. Between pairs of beds

_are

irriga­

tion furrows, spaced from 40 to 44 inches. Other California growers plant

42 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

the beets on a fiat seedbed, in rows spaced

20

inches apart, or on single beds spaced 24 to 36 inches.

The seed is either planted

direetly

into

moist

soil, or

in dry soil

which

(Courtesy. D�ere & Co.) Figure 2-6. Planting "fiat" is done with :1 four-, six-, eight-, or twelve-row planter.

Figure 2-7. In the semi-arid West, beets are frequently planted into dry soil and later irrigated for germination.

will soon be wet, either by rain or irrigation. Planting dates in the Uni t ^ed

States range from September, in southern California, to June in the northern

central states.

GROWING SUGAR BEETS ₄₃ Planters. Until recently, sugar-beet planters were adaptations of drills de�igne

�

for pl�nti�g g�ains ,or vegetable seeds. No attention was given to ullIform�t!. of dls,tnbutlOn, smce the beet seed was a multlgerm unit, and

no, POSBlblhty eXIsted of producing a stand of separate, single seedlings.

W�th the advent of. processed seed it became desirable to space the seeds umformly, and speClal planters were developed. Such planters are primarily

?f the plate type, and in some cases place the seed with an accuracy of t mch.

FigUre 2-8. Beet seedlings emerge in profusion, but with unequal distribution.

This field is ready for thinning.

Beet seed is planted at a depth range of from t to 2t inches, or, as deep as necessary to reach moist soil. If rains are anticipated, or if it is intended to irrigate for germination, shallower plantings are preferred.

WEED CONTROL

MterO the beet seedlings have emerged, thinning is generally required to secure the desired plant population.

Beet seedlings are usually surrouuded by weed seedlings whioh oompete for moisture, sunlight and soil nutrients. Weeds are controlled by cultivating the rows with a combination of disks and knives mounted on a tractor tool bar, so as to slice through the topsoil, exceptfora 3 -or 4-inch strip on which the row is centered. Furrowing shovels are also used to deepen the irrigation furrows

and buHd

_up the shoulders of the

beds.

44

BEET-SUGAR TECHNOWGY

Pre-emergence spraying of chemical weed killer is effective under certain conditions. It is accomplished by permitting the weeds to germinate in the seedbed just before planting time. Immediately after planting, the seedbed is sprayed with an herbicide usually consisting of fortified diesel oil. This herbicide leaves practically no residual effect on the seedbed, but kills all weeds which have appeared. ·Within a few days after spraying, the beet seedlings emerge, without immediate competition. Later emerging weeds may be controlled by conventional cultivation. Pre-emergence spraying is

Figure 2-9. Pre-emergence spraying. The foreground area was sprayed with contact herbicide immediately after planting the beet seed into beds covered with small weeds. The weeds were killed, and the beet plants emerged into a weed�free environment.

particularly useful in removing weeds which are so close to the beet plants that they cannot be removed by cultivation. With pre-emergence spraying at least one cultivation may usually be omitted.

Experimental work is being conducted in an attempt to develop

_a

selec­

tive herbicide which

_will

destroy weeds but not beet plants. Some success

has been obtained with salts of trichloracetic acid, (T.O.A.).