100 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Fitting Stuhblc. — I*low ten or twelve inches, or even go two or three 

 inches deeper than you have ever plowed the ground before, but do not fail 

 to fully incorporate the new soil with the old. You must do this thor- 

 oughly. You do not need to disc unless the soil is very lumpy. Be sure 

 to tirnj the soil thoroughly; otherwise you get a spreading root and this 

 won't do. Pulverize thoroughly and pack it well, even if it takes ten days. 

 Seed as before. 



For Sandy Soil. — Plow deep in the soil the same as before, only roll 

 two or tkree times so as to pack thoroughly. 



Muck. — If you have muck land with clay subsoil, you may need to apply 

 fertilizer in the slia|)e of potash. So far as preparation is concerned, firm 

 the soil well and drag throe or four times. You can thus get a good crop 

 on muck. 



Use plenty of seed, and do not attempt to fill in vacant places by 

 transplanting. 



If you will follow these directions, I think you will make a start for a 

 successful crop. Above all things be thorough. 



Thinning and Cultivating. 



BY C. T. RICHARDS, ALMA. 



In growing beets as in everything else, a good beginning is lialf the 

 battle. As soon as the beets appear above the ground use the weeder 

 freely, l^ou can do this both before and after thinning. The great 

 advantages of the weeder are in conserving moisture, destroying weeds, 

 and stirring the ground that the cultivator cannot reach. 



I use the cultivator twice. Place the scalpers next to the rows as close 

 as possible without tearing the beets. 



Thinning. — This process is of the utmost importance. Do not neglect 

 it, as there is a stage in the growth when there is but little development. 

 And you must be careful not to confuse the second leaf with the first. The 

 time to thin is when the fourth leaves first appear on any of the beets, as, 

 if the field is even, the rest of the beets will be in the second leaf. Here 

 comes in the adv^nntage of good preparation of the soil and careful seeding, 

 so that you have uniformity of size in the beets; this' makes thinning 

 much easier. (Jive this thinning your best attention — every day's delay 

 means dollars loss. At this stage of growth the beets can be thinned at 

 a minimum cost, but let the weeds get once well started and choke the 

 beets and you may double and even treble the cost of thinning. I heard a 

 man say last year that he could better thin his beets when they got the 

 size of one's finger, because he could get help cheaper, but of thirty acres 

 he only succeeded in thinning three acres and his crop was a failure. 



After thinning you are ready to get out weeds. You can use hoes or not, 

 as you choose, but I certainly would not use hoes for any other purpose 

 than to get out the weeds that are not otherwise reached. It is too 

 expensive. 



As to the distance to thin, it is now conceded that nine or ten inches 

 is the proper distance. Last year we thinned to seven or eight inches, 

 but concluded that nine or ten inches is better, as the tonnage is greater 

 in the latter case and the per cent of sugar is the same, while the time of 



