Proceedings

of the Tomsk Technological Institute

of Emperor Nicholas II

Vol. 8. 1907. No. 5.

S. V. Lebedev.

Report on a Business Trip to the Sugar Beet Plantations of European Russia.

1–20.

REPORT

on a business trip to the sugar beet plantations

OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA.

S. V. Lebedev.

The possibility of developing the sugar industry in Siberia served as the occasion for the present business trip, the purpose of which, accordingly, was to become acquainted with the cultivation of the sugar beet, which has spread widely throughout European Russia between 47° and 54° north latitude. This latter circumstance was the reason why, in order to form a correct and complete conception of the question indicated, it was necessary to select for inspection sugar plantations situated, as far as possible, in diverse locations—in the Podolia, Kiev, Kharkov, Kursk, Voronezh, Tula, and Samara provinces. The region of the Kingdom of Poland was not included, as it was of no interest in the present case, because it is difficult to suppose analogous climatic conditions in Siberia. Since, among the large number of beet-growing estates inspected, there were many very similar to one another in their organization, methods of cultivation, and so forth, depending on identical climatic and other conditions, I therefore consider it possible, in order to avoid repetition, to divide all the beet-growing estates I saw into three groups:

a) the estates of the south-western provinces: Kiev and Podolia,

b) the estates of the middle belt: Kharkov and the provinces adjoining it,

c) the estates of northern and eastern Russia: Tula and Samara provinces.

In describing one or another group of beet-sugar estates, I shall dwell chiefly on one of the most characteristic among those I saw, referring only when necessary to others that have some particular features which it is interesting to note and emphasize.

The beet-growing farms of the south-western provinces (Kiev and Podolia), lying approximately between 51½° and 47½° north latitude, are situated, like the entire sugar region, in the chernozem belt, which in the Podolia and Kiev provinces has its own peculiarities, consisting in large expanses of sandy soils (for example—the Cherkasy district of the Kiev province). In addition, the peculiarities of the chernozem belt of this region manifest themselves in clayey, marly, and calcareous soils, found here in places where granites and other crystalline rocks come to the surface. The sufficient lime content in the soil leaves its mark on the fertilizers used here, among which lime fertilizer is employed with great caution (for example—on the Shpikovo estate, Podolia province, Yampol district), and in other localities it is even wholly excluded, as for example—on some farms of the Talnoye estate, Kiev province, Uman district.

The subsoil is for the most part loess; but clays, loams, and other kinds also occur.

The climate in the Podolia and Kiev provinces is moderate, both with respect to temperature and to humidity. Prolonged frosts, droughts, and excessive moisture are usually not encountered. Compared with the latter, the Podolia province is poorer than the Kiev province.

In general, in the region under consideration, sufficient precipitation falls—about 500 mm per year.

It is distributed as follows: the small rains of March and April, though sufficient for the development of vegetation, are followed by frequent and abundant rains in May, June, and July, after which comes a comparatively dry August, and then the drier and clearer months of September and October in the first half.

At the end of November winter begins, though it becomes established only in December. Little snow falls, and it happens that it melts, leaving only an icy crust, from which winter crops suffer greatly. The number of clear days is about 10%. The mean annual temperature is +7° C. In general, the region under consideration proves very favorable for the cultivation of sugar beet, owing to which it has become the center of the sugar industry: in the Kiev province alone there are about 70–80 sugar factories.

As a result of such strong development of the sugar industry, the system of rural farms throughout almost the entire region is industrial, closely connected with sugar production and, as it were, subordinated to it. And since the activity of sugar factories has recently greatly

expanded, the system of field farming became very intensive, with a multi-field fruit-changing system, in some farms even reaching a 20-field crop rotation (the Smila estate, Kiev Province, Cherkassy and Chigirin districts). Such a forcing, of course, could not remain without consequences even under favorable conditions, which is why in many farms the yield in general, and of beets in particular, fell; the latter, moreover, suffered greatly in quality as well. In the aforementioned Smila estate the yield from 100 berkhovets (12 poods) fell to 70. In order to regulate this matter, crop rotations have recently been changed to ones in which beets recur less often, artificial fertilizers have been introduced (superphosphate, saltpeter, etc.), and the distance between plants has been increased—the width of the rows and the thinning have gone from \((4 \times 7)\) vershoks to \((5 \times 9)\).

Limiting myself to the general characterization given, I turn to a description, by way of a particular example, of the methods of cultivation and the course of work on the beet plantations of this region.

For this description I choose the Shpikovo estate of Balashov, located in the Bratslav and Yampol districts of Podolia Province. I dwell on the indicated estate because, by virtue of its central position in Podolia Province, it may serve, so to speak, as a representative of the estates of this province, all the more so since in its relief and soils it is not an exception, and in its organization it may serve to a certain degree as a model.

The surface of the estate is rather uneven, cut by ravines and gullies, which have the significance of protection from the hot south-eastern winds.

The soils of the estate are considered very fertile, wheat soils, and in part to have originated from the division of forests. Alongside great fertility, irrespective of fertilizers, nevertheless for the success of field cultivation very careful tillage and care of the soil are required; the soil, being heavy in itself, in times of drought becomes so compacted that the strongest implements quickly wear out and break; and in wet weather, during cultivation, the moist soil crumples, smears, and loses the cultivated condition proper to it.

An even greater evil here is the formation of crusts on the surface of the fields, especially after rains. The harmful influence of these crusts is very strongly felt at the sprouting of beet sowings, when the young plants are so weak that, being unable to break through the obstacle, they can easily even perish. To ease this struggle in these localities an almost double sowing is carried out.

a quantity of beet seeds which, with a greater number of shoots, can more easily break or lift the crust that has formed above them.

The subsoil consists of loam, lying rather deep; in places it turns to clay, in places—to gneiss, and occasionally to sand.

For a characterization of the local climate, already described above for the entire district, the following data, taken from the records of the farm books for the period from 1881 to 1895, may also serve:

a) the period of field work lasts from 191 to 254 days;
b) its beginning fluctuates between March 2 and April 8;
c) the beginning of beet sowing is from March 20 to April 10;
d) the beginning of beet harvesting is from September 1 to 10;
e) the end of harvesting sometimes even reaches mid-November, but usually occurs around the 20th of October;
f) the period of beet growth (between the beginning of sowing and digging) is approximately 152–153 days, but fluctuates from 131 to 170 days.

The organization of the farm is determined by the requirements of the sugar factory, the gradual growth of which compelled, at the corresponding period of time, the introduction of various changes into the crop rotations, bringing as a result the sown area of sugar beet up to \(1/5\) of all the fields.

Owing to the intensity of the farming and the insufficient quantity of meadows, grass sowing has been introduced into the crop rotation used here (clover, vetch with oats, etc.).

Thus the cultivation of sugar beet occupies the first place on the estate both in terms of the expenditure of labor, capital, and attention, and in terms of the area occupied.

As for the place of sugar beet in the crop rotation, it is planted half after winter wheat and half after unfertilized fallow.

With regard to the crop rotation, long experience and the requirements of the factory for a definite quantity of beet have led the Shpikovo estate to the following:

1) fertilized fallow,
2) winter crop,
3) beet,
4) spring crop with clover,
5) clover,

6) unfertilized fallow,
7) winter crop,
8) fallow,
9) beet,
10) spring crop.

The preservation of soil productivity is achieved by a considerable percentage of fallow fields and by the application of various kinds of fertilizers.

After the sowing of the spring crops has been completed, manure begins to be hauled out to the field, where it is laid in small heaps and immediately plowed under to a depth of 2–2½ vershoks (with single-share Sakk plows); in doing so they try to place the manure in the furrows. The same procedure is followed with defecation mud in those cases where it is used.

Since fallow is the principal element in the crop rotation and in agricultural operations, both by its significance and by the amount of labor expended on it, this question should therefore be considered in somewhat greater detail.

In the farm under consideration one has to deal in part with heavy clayey soils which, if their surface is not loosened, are capable of vigorously losing moisture and becoming very hard in the middle of summer, while in spring, when soaked, they become almost inaccessible for cultivation. For this reason the question of improving the physical properties of the soil is very important here. This aim is achieved by plowing the soil immediately after the preceding sowing has been harvested and leaving it in layers for the winter. Under such conditions, in the following spring and summer the soils are easily worked with all kinds of implements, and, if the fallow is not subsequently allowed to become overgrown, they preserve excellently both their desirable physical properties and their moisture. Work with black fallows not only for wheat but also for beet, as practiced on the Shpikovo estate, is also practiced in most other places with similar heavy soils.

In the greater part of the estates here, however, where the soils have other properties, black fallows are used only for wheat, but not for beet. This is explained, first, by the high cost of maintaining black fallows, and secondly by the difference in the tasks of cultivating the soil in fallow for beet and for winter grain (in this district—wheat). Since beet is sown in early spring at the moment of the maximum moisture content in the soil, the task of the fallow field is therefore reduced not to increasing moisture (already sufficient), but to improving the physical properties of the soil and accumulating in it a sufficient reserve of nutrients. Considering black fallow from the point of view of the possible accumulation of nutrients in the soil, one may disagree with its expediency in the present case, since, remaining completely without any vegetative cover for about 20 months, it serves during this long interval as a filter for atmospheric precipitation, which, passing partly through it, rather significantly washes out the most useful and important soluble nitrogen-containing nutritive—

nutrient substances. Therefore, to the extent that wheat requires black fallow, there is no such need for beet, which is sown here either after winter crops, or after unfertilized green fallow, or, finally, in the case of poor and exhausted lands—after fallow fertilized with manure (for example, the Nikolaev Estate of Count Bobrinsky, Kiev Province, Cherkassy District).

Turning to the methods of soil cultivation, it must first of all be noted that the dependence of these methods on the diversity of soils in the given region prevents the formulation of any precise general formula for the entire region; and the dependence of the same methods on the weather variability, quite peculiar to each year, in the various periods connected with field work, makes it difficult to indicate any such general rule or prescription even for individual estates with homogeneous soil. Therefore, in describing the work involved in the cultivation of sugar beet, one must confine oneself to general features and only an approximate indication of the time at which it is carried out.

The preparation of soil for beet on unfertilized fallow begins with plowing to a depth of 3–4 vershoks. In view of the important effect of the atmosphere on the soil, this plowing is carried out as early as possible, immediately after the sowing of spring crops has been completed. Following the plowing, the fallow is rolled, which regulates the action of the atmosphere on the soil and preserves the latter’s moisture. Thereafter care is taken that the fallow does not become overgrown with weeds, which exhaust the soil at the expense of the reserve of nutrients intended for the beet. In addition, these weeds attract caterpillars and various harmful insects, which, feeding on them, lay their eggs there at once. Therefore, when weeds appear, especially broad-leaved grasses, harrowing is carried out; and when they have grown considerably, recourse is even had to shallow replowing, after which, once harrowed, they proceed to deep plowing to 6–8 vershoks, which in any case is completed in the period when the temperature of the air and the soil is still high enough for the atmosphere to exert its effect on the turned-up earth (approximately up to September 15).

When beet is sown after wheat, the work begins with shallow plowing, followed by a heavy roller, by means of which the turned-up stubble is pressed against the soil; at the air temperature prevailing at that time this promotes rapid and complete decomposition. Then, in the order indicated earlier, deep plowing follows. In the interval between shallow and deep plowing, harrowing is carried out as necessary.

In the case of sowing beet after a manured fallow, the manure hauled out in autumn is immediately plowed under to a depth of not less than 4 vershoks. Such a depth is important in the sense that, with subsequent plowing to 7–8 vershoks, the plowed-in manure is situated at the same depth of 4 vershoks, quite sufficient and convenient for the necessary influx of air that assists the processes of decomposition and nitrification. If, however, the manure is initially plowed under to 2–3 vershoks, then with a second deep plowing it is placed at a depth of 5–6 vershoks; because of this its decomposition proceeds weakly, and the plant, in the first, weakest period of its development, having few decomposed nutrients in the soil, is doomed to starvation, with all its consequences.

Thus, the cultivation of the soil for beet during the summer preceding its sowing appears as follows:

The sowing of beet seed in the Kiev and Podolia provinces is carried out around the last days of March; in general, however, its timing depends on how soon the soil warms to the desired degree (5°–6° R), which in practice is expressed by the drying of the field to such an extent that it becomes possible for both worker and animal to go over the field. But in any case, despite the desirability of early sowing for uniform germination, it is nevertheless not begun too early, in order to avoid the bad consequences of cold spring matinées.

Spring tillage of the soil aims to place the seed at sowing into a moist, loose layer of soil and to bring the soil particles as close as possible (but not to compact them) to the seeds, so as to increase capillarity, hasten germination, and ensure uniformity of seedlings. To achieve the minimum loss of soil moisture, one resorts to vigorous loosening and leveling of the upper thin layer,

the capillary connection of which with the lower layer is broken, and thereby the preservation of the moisture of the latter is achieved. In accordance with this, the first task in spring is to level the field by dumping the ridges of the deep plowing into the furrows. For this purpose, depending on the soil and its condition, harrows, smoothers, or drags are sent over the field (the last of these is most widely used here).

Spring tillage of the soil for sowing, besides preserving moisture, also pursues, as was said earlier, the evenness of emergence. The latter plays an especially important role in the Kiev and Podolia gubernias, where it is necessary to wage a struggle against various pests of beet, especially the weevil (cleonus punctiventris), which is very dangerous in the very earliest period of growth of sugar beet, before the formation of the first four leaves. This danger consists in the fact that, by eating the first leaves, the weevil finally kills the plant. If, however, the attack is made after the formation of the four leaves, then, while they are being eaten by the beetle, the beet has time to put out new ones and in this way is saved from destruction. Consequently, with uniform emergence the following picture presents itself: that part of the beet on which the beetle fell before the formation of the four leaves perishes, while the other part, which by the time of the attack had already managed to form these leaves, remains almost unharmed. But if the emergence proceeds unevenly and is stretched over a long interval of time, then the entire sowing may perish, since the weevil, if present in large numbers, will have time gradually to destroy all the beet as it appears. Therefore the covering of the seed must be even, and the spring tillage of the soil very good. On light soils, of course, it may be limited only to harrowing and rolling; but on heavy, very compacted soils, as for example in the estate under consideration, this tillage is much more complicated, and the intended aim is achieved by applying the following implements, going immediately before and after the seed drill, in this order:

1) Extirpators or cultivators.
2) Large heavy harrows.
3) Small harrows.
4) Triple wooden roller.
5) Small wooden harrow.
6) Row combined seed drill, sowing seeds and fertilizers.
7) Small wooden harrow.
8) Smooth wooden roller (or a heavy one for light soils, sent out no earlier than 12 hours later).

When sowing, great attention is paid to the straightness of the lines of row sowing, since this determines the possibility of further cultivation of the beet field with implements driven by draft power, thereby reducing costly manual labor. The desired duration of sowing is no more than 10 days, but it is sometimes prolonged even to 25.

For the uniformity of germination and to shorten the very first, weakest period of growth of the sugar beet, when it is especially strongly attacked by various pests, recourse is made to soaking the seeds and to superphosphate, sown by ribbon combined seeders together with the seeds in an amount of from 4 to 6 poods per desiatina, with a content of pure substance of 12–20%. In this way about \(1/8\) of the entire area under beet sowing is fertilized. In other estates of this district, besides superphosphate, saltpeter is also used (the Smelianskoe, Nikolaevskoe and other estates in the Kiev and Podolsk provinces).

The seeds are partly their own, partly foreign; moreover, only “mother” seeds are imported, from which the estates produce factory seed for sowing. But, considering the importation of foreign seeds unprofitable, the Shpikovo estate proposes next year to establish its own breeding station.

As regards the advantage and possibility of their own selections, opinions differ: some estates are opening them, others are closing them (Nikolaevskoe, Kiev province); finally, a third group makes exclusive use of foreign mother seeds, considering that selections, properly organized, require too many special scientific resources and a corresponding setting, owing to which the task appears beyond the strength even of large estates.

Of the varieties of beet seed, Kleinwanzleben in its various modifications is used here chiefly; the Vilmorin varieties, as comparatively low-yielding, although encountered, are rare.

For each desiatina 2–4 poods of seed are sown, which, as stated earlier, are soaked beforehand.

Soaking is carried out in the Shpikovo estate over the course of 10 days, but in general its duration varies from 5 to 14 days; in doing so approximately the following conditions are observed:

a) Soaking is carried out in several stages.

b) The seeds receive enough water for their moisture content to increase by 100% by weight.

c) The average daily temperature must not rise above 14° R., and should preferably be kept at about 8–10° R.

d) The sum of all mean daily temperatures must be about 100–120° R.

After sowing, the care of the sugar beet begins. The work connected with this (partly manual, partly by machine) comes down to loosening the upper layer of the soil (hoeing), clearing the plantations of weeds and insects, removing superfluous beet plants (“thinning” and “checking”), and, finally, eliminating various unfavorable conditions that arise during the growth of the beet.

Most manual work is done with a hoe 4–5 vershoks wide; on light soils, wider hoes, up to 8 vershoks, are used. Machine cultivation is reduced to plowing up the spaces between the rows with various, for the most part horse-drawn, cultivators.

Care of the plantation usually begins with the “first hoeing,” approximately 14 days after sowing, and ends by the time when the beet has grown so much that the leaves of two neighboring rows completely cover the entire space between the rows. If, soon after sowing, a heavy rain occurs, then on silty, clayey-calcareous, and clayey-marly soils a crust forms that greatly hampers sprouting; this crust is destroyed by passing harrows and heavy ring rollers over the plantation. In order that the seedlings themselves should not suffer from this, the indicated implements are sent in a direction perpendicular to the beet rows. Approximately a week after emergence, the first hoeing begins, or, as they say, sharovka. The purpose of this work is to destroy weeds and loosen the upper layer of soil in order to preserve moisture. In this way, among other things, good circulation of air is also achieved in the inner layers of the soil, which is necessary for the respiration of the roots and their rapid development. If growth is nevertheless rather weak, the hoeing is repeated. And when the beet has put out its fourth leaf, “thinning” begins, or the thinning of the rows of beet plants by pulling out surplus plants at a certain distance (4–5 vershoks), leaving the healthiest specimens.

Thinning is a very important and urgent task, since the plants sitting close together in the row prevent one another from developing properly, and, if thinning is delayed even a little, they become entangled with their roots and can thereby completely ruin the entire sowing. Therefore thinning is carried out in great haste, trying not to prolong it for more than 10 days; they begin with the stronger fields and finish with the weaker ones. Rainy weather facilitates thinning and has a favorable effect on the remaining plants.

After singling-out there follows “checking,” the purpose of which is to make sure of the correctness of the preceding urgent work and, where not one but several plants have been left, to remove the superfluous ones.

Checking brings to an end the three large necessary hand operations. Further care of the plantations is reduced to plowing between the rows with horse implements—row cultivators.

The last operation on the plantations is “hilling,” intended to loosen the soil around each beet and to cover the top of the beet by 3–4 heads with loose earth, in order to increase the sugar content in this part of the root.

The digging of the beets brings to an end all work on the beet plantations.

For a clear idea of the distribution of the work over time, I give the data obtained from the Moshny estate, Kiev Province:

Digging ends before the onset of frosts.

For completeness of the picture of agricultural work on sugar-beet plantations in Kiev and Podolia provinces, it is necessary also to mention the pests of beet, which here manifest their destructive action with particular force. Among them the most dangerous are: the beet weevil (Gleonus punctiventris), the meadow moth (Botis sticticalis), the May beetle (Melalontha vulgaris), root rot (Wurzelbrand), wireworm, and others. In combating the insects, they are collected by hand; plantations are protected from them by protective beetle-catching ditches, and fields are sprayed with poisonous liquids ($\mathrm{BaCl_2}$—a four-percent solution, dzhensinit—a solution containing

* Late dates refer in most cases to re-sowings and, since the growing period here is rather long, this makes it possible to carry re-sowings even to June 30, hoping with great probability that they will nevertheless have time to dig them fully by the time set aside for them, of course, at later dates.

among other things, salts of arsenic, etc.). More effective, but unfortunately still little developed, are various preventive measures; for example, in combating the weevil, the infection of the soil with the “muscardine” fungi discovered by Professor Mechnikov is proposed as a very effective remedy; their spores, by infecting the larva of Cleonus, kill it in the course of its further development. Experiments and investigations on this question are apparently being carried out successfully on the estate of Count Bobrinsky, in the Kiev province, where the struggle against the weevil constitutes a heavy overhead expense in the cultivation of beet, amounting in places to 10 and even 15 rubles per desyatina.

The beet-sugar farms of the Kharkov and neighboring provinces, to the description of which I now turn, have, in comparison with the farms of the region just considered, certain features explained by their more northeasterly position and, consequently, by a shorter summer and a comparatively continental climate. The latter is distinguished by great irregularity: prolonged spring droughts are replaced in mid-summer by downpours, owing to which, despite the considerable annual quantity of atmospheric precipitation (about 500 mm), there is nevertheless not enough of it in the known vegetative periods, and this has an unfavorable effect on yield, which for Kharkov province is approximately equal to 1000 poods of beet, i.e., 200 poods less than in the Kiev and Podolia provinces.

The months of August and September are for the most part dry and warm, which has a very favorable effect on the sugar content of the beet and at the same time affords great convenience in harvesting and delivering it. Prolonged autumn rains begin in the month of October.

There are no very severe winters here, but nevertheless the temperature falls to 25 and even to 34° C., which, in connection with the slight snow cover, already presents unfavorable conditions for the cultivation of tender winter cereals; for this reason, in the crop rotations here, the predecessor of beet is in most cases winter rye, and not wheat, as is customary in the Kiev and Podolia provinces.

Of great significance for local agriculture are the dry north-easterly winds, which, in connection with the calm character of the local relief, presenting no serious obstacles to them in the form of any considerable elevations, are a veritable menace to beet plantations. Very often such winds ruin large areas of beet fields by covering and burying them with sand—

somewhat weak sandy soil, only just awakened to plant life. The sowings are also sometimes blown out by the wind; to prevent this, the fields are rolled after sowing with heavy corrugated rollers specially intended for this purpose, and, in addition, the fields are planted around with trees.

Owing to the more northerly location, the growing season for beet here is no more than 4½ months, i.e., a full month shorter than in the southwestern provinces, where it usually lasts 5½ months.

The soils of this region are, with few exceptions, medium chernozem with its varieties—clayey, loamy, and sandy-loam chernozem, passing in places into sandy loams and even sands.

All the above-mentioned features of this region must be reckoned with in the cultivation of sugar beet, and they leave their characteristic imprint upon it. Thus, for example, owing to the comparatively unfavorable climatic conditions, the yield of beet in this region is somewhat lower than in the Kiev and Podolia provinces; therefore, taking this into account, artificial fertilizers are widely used in most local beet-growing estates, and very good results are often obtained. To study questions of fertilization in Kharkov Province, on the estate of Shlyakhovoe (belonging to Mr. Kharitonenko), there has even been established the well-equipped Ivanovka Agricultural Experimental Station.

The data from the estates of Mr. Kharitonenko (in the Kharkov, Kursk, and Chernigov provinces), which in recent years have been under the guidance of the Ivanovka Station, clearly show the great importance that artificial fertilizers have for local agriculture in general and for the cultivation of sugar beet in particular. Of course, they are important everywhere, but the more favorable the conditions, the less they matter; thus in the Kiev and Podolia provinces artificial fertilizers have less effect on increasing yields than in Kharkov Province and those neighboring it. This fact is quite clearly confirmed by the 1903 report of the Laboratory of the Kiev Agricultural Syndicate concerning fertilization experiments in connection with the cultivation of sugar beet, carried out on privately owned farms in southern Russia.

Since, owing to poorer climatic conditions, the fields of Kharkov Province and the neighboring provinces are less productive than those of Kiev and Podolia, the effect of fertilizers must, of course, be felt more strongly in the former case, which is confirmed by experiments. But,

if one takes into account the influence of certain fertilizers, for example superphosphate, in shortening the first period of beet growth, when it is least able to resist the action of pests, it becomes clear why both in Kiev and in Podolia provinces, despite good natural fertility but with a large number of pests, people nevertheless strive to use artificial fertilizers.

The system of field husbandry in the region under consideration may be called intensive, with a many-field, but more often four-field, crop rotation, which constitutes a rather characteristic local feature; moreover, in many places, owing to the sufficiency of fodder resources (meadow hay, pulp, feed molasses, straw, etc.), grass sowing is almost absent, and this makes it possible to allocate a large area of arable land to beets—about 25% of the entire sown area.

Thus, the following distribution of fields is obtained in the rotation here:

The distribution of work and the time of its performance for Kharkov province, for example, are as follows:

The normal beet yield is about 1,000 poods, but it fluctuates depending on the year and on the number of pests, which, it should be said, are fewer in this region than in Kiev and Podolia provinces. The pests and the measures for combating them are the same as there; the chief among them are the beet moth and the weevil.

Without dwelling on the description of the work on the sugar plantations, which is carried out here in the same way as in Kiev province, I shall mention only the steam ploughs which I encountered on the estates of Mr. Koenig and Mr. Kharitonenko in Kharkov province.

Work with steam plows is considered convenient and feasible only for deep plowing to 7–8 vershoks; in other operations, such as harrowing, shallow plowing, etc., the use of steam is still unprofitable.

The merit of steam plows consists in the fact that they considerably reduce the number of laboring hands, and, owing to their productivity, diminish dependence on the weather, making it possible to use more successfully the time suitable for work. Among the shortcomings of steam plows is the need, for their operation to be possible, of a more or less even surface of the field being cultivated. But even if all possible shortcomings were eliminated, and the cost of cultivation by steam became equal to the cost of cultivation by draft power, the advantage would nevertheless remain on the side of the latter, which provides the manure fertilizer necessary for agriculture. This explains the slight prevalence of steam plows on beet plantations, of which some, even while possessing a steam plow, nevertheless prefer to work with draft power, resorting to the former only in cases of extreme necessity (Moshnogorodishche, an estate of Kiev Province).

As for the beet-sugar farms of Northern and Eastern Russia, their extreme representatives in the north are located in Tula Province, and in the east—in Samara Province. Both provinces lie in the chernozem belt; but, whereas the Tula sugar plantations lie almost exclusively on chernozem of, on average, very good quality, in Samara Province, alongside this, solonchak and acidic soils are encountered beneath the plantations. On the latter, the yields of sugar beet were very poor (80–90 poods of sugar per desyatina), but five years’ experience with intensified liming of such soils increased the yield by 40–50%. Moreover, according to the chief manager of the Timashev estate (of the Appanage Department) in Samara Province, the yield of sugar beet here, too, has generally increased thanks to the application of various artificial fertilizers.

In Tula Province they likewise make use of them and apply chiefly superphosphate, finding the other fertilizers either inapplicable here or unprofitable; for example, on the Bogoroditsk estate of Counts Bobrinsky, only superphosphate is used, at 6 poods for each desyatina of beet sowing, sown in ribbon strips.

As for climatic conditions, for the given region they are characterized by the following data:

The vegetation period for beets in both provinces is about four months.

From the table presented it is clear that in both cases the climate is quite continental, but it is especially sharply defined for Samara Province.

Owing to this, conditions for sugar beet, which requires a mild, even, and sufficiently humid climate, turn out to be rather difficult. The amount of atmospheric precipitation, small in Samara and somewhat greater in Tula Province, proves in both cases insufficient because of the unevenness of its fall. Severe and prolonged droughts, alternating with downpours, are, especially for Samara Province, a rather frequent phenomenon. The result is a low yield (600–700 poods of beet per desyatina), rising in Tula Province. But if in Tula Province the yield of beet is somewhat higher, then its sugar content in Samara Province is considerably higher, which is explained by the duration and intensity there of the sun’s rays, especially at the end of summer, i.e., at the time when the accumulation of sugar has begun.

Another feature of the group of beet plantations under consideration is the short vegetation period, which greatly constrains, and in some places compels complete abandonment of, reseeding beets—as, for example, in the Bogoroditsk estate of Tula Province. Of course, if even in this estate the plantations are damaged soon after sowing, then reseeding is permissible; but with even a slight delay it is abandoned, and the field, plowed up from under the beets, is used for another crop. If, however, the damage has occurred in small patches over the whole plantation for a considerable extent, then fodder beet is planted in the bare places. By this they intend to protect the remaining sugar beet from abnormal growth and a significant lowering of its quality. The latter is inevitable with the intensified nourishment of the roots at the expense of dead neighbors, when all the energy of the plant in the second half of development goes not into the accumulation of sugar, but into the absorption from the soil of various salts and nitrogenous substances.

With regard to beet pests, the Tula and Samara provinces differ greatly from one another. In the Tula province there are very few of them, and this is explained by local farmers, on the one hand, by the severe winters, owing to which many larvae of pests perish from the cold, freezing out during the winter, and on the other hand by the fact that, among those that have overwintered, the majority likewise disappear, encountering during their development the heavy spring rains unfavorable to them, which are especially abundant here. In the Samara province the conditions for the overwintering of insects, owing to still greater cold, are more difficult than in the Tula province, but the comparatively dry and warm spring and, above all, the proximity of the steppes, whose inhabitants are the worst enemies of the beet—the weevil, the meadow moth, and certain others—all this leads to such a quantity of pests that, for example, in 1900 in the Timashevsk estate the entire sowing of beets was so destroyed that the beet-sugar factory did not operate at all that year.

Dry northeastern winds, by blowing out and covering over the beet sowings, also cause very great damage to plantations in the Samara province. This evil is combated here by planting fields with trees and by rolling them after sowing with heavy corrugated rollers.

As for crop rotations, in the farms of both provinces under consideration multi-field crop rotations have been adopted, with the beet repeated after 4 years. Its place in the rotation is partly after winter rye, partly after manured fallow.

Having traced the change in the condition of sugar plantations in parallel with the change in climatic and soil conditions, it is easy to observe the significance of each of them.

Among the various soils successfully under sugar-beet cultivation, the medium-fat chernozem is the most widespread and most suitable, as is indicated by the location of the beet-sugar region almost exclusively in the chernozem belt of European Russia. After the medium chernozem come relatively dark loamy, moderately cohesive and not heavy soils with, as far as possible, homogeneous subsoils. Next come already less suitable loamy-sandy and sandy-loamy soils with a clay content of 20–30%.

The external sign of the soils most favorable for sugar beet is considered to be the capacity to be easily worked both in a moist and in a dry state—an important circumstance for the possibility of air penetrating into the soil, the consequence of which is greater or lesser nitrification of the latter.

The very diversity of the soils found under sugar-beet cultivation indicates that the limits of the latter’s requirements in this respect may be set rather broadly. And if one takes into account the various fertilizers constantly applied in significant quantities, which are necessary in the cultivation of sugar beet and which, over time, greatly alter the composition of the soil, then it is clear that the importance of the latter in the question of the possibility of cultivating sugar beet in one place or another is weakened still further.

The choice of a site for sugar plantations is much more constrained by climatic conditions. This is clearly emphasized by the comparatively narrow belt of the beet-sugar region, by which it has stretched from east to west across the whole of European Russia. The reason for this is the lack of moisture in the southeast and the short growing season in the north. In general, the requirements of sugar beet with regard to climate are quite definite.

Leaving aside the highly hypothetical indications as to the number of necessary degrees of heat, the duration of sunshine in hours, and, finally, the number of mm of atmospheric precipitation, I shall confine myself to a general description of the requirements under which beet can grow normally and freely and accumulate sugar in the proper quantity.

For its all-round development, sugar beet requires very warm (average temperature 12.8–13.8° R) and sufficiently moist months of May and the first half of June, since at this time the main development of the leaves takes place, which need warmth and slight moisture; then there should follow a comparatively warm (average temperature 13° R) and more humid (about 1 inch of rain each week) second half of June and the month of July, when the increase in the mass of the root occurs; and finally, during the accumulation of sugar in the beet, i.e. in August and September, clear hot weather should prevail, with an average temperature of about 14.8° R. Dry northeast winds, prolonged droughts, and heavy downpours are, of course, undesirable. The average length of the growing season for beet is 4½ months, and, taking into account 15 days for beet sowing and 1½ months for lifting, we find that the necessary length of the summer period, reckoned from the beginning of field work to its end, must be 6–6½ months.

In addition to the indicated factors—soil and climate—the economic side of the matter also plays a very important role in the cultivation of sugar beet.

But, not having the opportunity to dwell on this question in detail, I shall confine myself to indicating the average amount of draft power

and labor, the availability of which approximately guarantees the possibility of cultivating a sugar plantation of a definite size.

The purpose of keeping working livestock consists, on the one hand, in obtaining draft power for the performance of field work and all kinds of haulage work, and, on the other hand, in obtaining the proper quantity of manure fertilizer.

The quantity of working livestock necessary for farms in which sugar beet occupies 20% of all cultivated land was already determined by the founder of the beet-sugar business in Russia—Count A. L. Bobrinsky—who considered 1 head of livestock sufficient for 1 desyatina of beet sowing, or, what is the same, for 5 desyatinas of all cultivated land.

When comparing analogous data from several estates (Trostyanets—Koenig, Parkhomovka—Kharitonenko, Smela—Bobrinsky, Moshno-Gorodishche and Shpikovo—Balashov), it turns out that Bobrinsky’s figure is somewhat reduced in comparison with the data of the present time, which is probably explained by the increased need for manure fertilizer; for example, in the Moshno-Gorodishche estate, Kiev Province, judging by the estate reports, the quantity of working livestock as draft power equals 1.04 head per 1 desyatina of beet sowing, but, taking into account the need for manure fertilizer, the indicated figure has to be increased to 1.2.

In any case, judging by the data collected, Bobrinsky’s figure is very close to the norm of the present time, and possible fluctuations in different estates do not in the least undermine the correctness of the opinion expressed for average conditions, since the magnitude of the indicated figure is influenced by a mass of various circumstances connected with the character of the farm, methods of soil cultivation, the composition of the soil itself, with the composition and quality of the fodder used for the livestock, etc.

Wishing to determine the quantity of laborers whose availability guarantees the possibility of cultivating sugar beet, for example on 1,000 desyatinas, I proceed from the number of laborers necessary for the performance of the most labor-intensive and most urgent work, which in the case under consideration is the “thinning” of the beet.

According to nine-year data, the average number in the Moshno-Gorodishche estate, Kiev Province, during beet thinning, which lasted there 23 days, was about 30 laborers per 1 desyatina of beet per day; since the total area sown with beet was almost 1,600 desyatinas, it follows that the necessary number of laborers for thinning in the indicated estate equals \(1600 \times 30\),

But this is in the event that all the work had to be completed in 1 day; it in fact lasts 23 days, and therefore the number of workers needed is \(\frac{1600 \times 30}{23}\), i.e., about 2,100 persons per day. Thus, for the thinning of 1,600 desyatinas of beet plantations, 2,100 persons are needed; consequently, for 1,000 desyatinas—1,432 persons. Taking into consideration, however, that such a prolongation of the thinning (23 days), permissible on southern plantations with a very long growing season, is entirely impossible for central plantations, and still more so for northern plantations, where only 10 days are allotted for it, we find that under these conditions the number of working hands guaranteeing the perfect execution of the most crowded and urgent work—the thinning—and consequently of all the remaining work as well, is expressed as follows: \(\frac{1432 \times 23}{10}\), i.e., 3,394 persons; moreover, of course, this number is subject to considerable fluctuations depending on the condition of the beet field being cultivated, the skill of the workers, and the attentiveness of the person supervising the work.