CULTURE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 175 



THINNING OUT. 



Careful thinning out at the right time is the most important part oi the work. Mr. 

 Charles B. Seavy, of Benton, who raised last year the heaviest crop of which we are in- 

 formed, viz, at the rate of 49^ tons to the acre, planted his rows 30 inches apart and 

 thinned out so as to leave each heet 10 inches apart in the rows. The best time for 

 thinning the beets is when most of the roots have reached the size of a slate-pencil. 

 If they have been planted by a drill in a continuous row the easiest way is to cut out 

 the spaces with a sharp hoe. Stand with one foot on each side ofthe row and cut through 

 the row from right to left, deep enough to make it sure that no beet cut will grow 

 again. If the rows are over 18 inches apart, or alternately 12 inches twice and 30 

 inches once, as above suggested, the plants should be left from 8 to 10 inches apart in 

 the row. Retain the best and largest plant in each bunch, removing all the rest. 

 Take hold of it with your left hand and press it downward, while you take the others 

 in the right hand. Give the bunch in the right hand a twist, as if you were turning 

 a screw, and pull them sideways and upwards. Do not pull them straight up, because 

 by doing so you will so loosen the one you wish to remain that it will take many days 

 before it regains its strength. Be careful not to break off the leaves only, leaving the 

 roots still in the ground, for these would grow again and cause double work. No two 

 beets which grow close together ever amount to anything in weight. Therefore it is 

 well, about a week after the thinning, to look over the field, and wherever two are 

 found together one must bo taken out. 



The thinning can be done best after a rain, even if the land is too wet for any other 

 work. It can be done by children as quickly as by grown people. But it should be 

 done thoroughly and not too late. After the beets are the size of one's finger they 

 cannot be disturbed without great injury. The thinning should be done before haying 

 begins. When the beets are thinned out and have fairly started the crop is almost 

 secured, for soon the leaves will attain their full size, will cover the ground, and by 

 their shade will prevent the weeds from growing. Until then the ground should be 

 kept clean and loose. Beets should be hoed or cultivated thoroughly more than once 

 before thinning. No plant is more grateful for cultivation than the sugar beet, or 

 yields a more bountiful harvest in return for care bestowed. * 



We can furnish Comstock's seed drill for planting for $6.50, payable in cash or beets 

 next fall. This drill can also bo converted into a cultivator. Messrs. Cameron & Co., 

 Preble street, Portland, have got up a cultivator specially adapted to shallow cultiva- 

 tion between the rows ; price, $12. These cultivators clean three rows at a time. 

 They are drawn by a single horse and will clean an acre of beets in a few hours. One 

 of these cultivators would be sufficient for six farmers, who might club together and 

 order one by paying $2 each. Ordinary cultivators or shovel-plows for potatoes can 

 be used. 



Norton's hand seed-sower (retail price $1.25) is a very ingenious and effective imple- 

 ment. It will plant one acre in about three hours. It can be had of us or our agents 

 by farmers who contract with us for $1, and it may be included with the seed in a note 

 payable next fall in cash or beets. 



Stockbridge's celebrated " Special Manure for Sugar Beets" or Bowker's "Hill and 

 Drill Phosphate" we will supply to farmers, on receipt of the money with the order, 

 at the rate of $5 per bag, of 200 pounds, delivered at any railroad station in Maine. 

 Where no barnyard manure is used, apply four bags of Stockbridge manure to the 

 acre. Sow it in drill or furrow, ridged up before planting the seed. Where thiee to 

 five cords of barnyard manure are used to the acre, apply two bags of Stockbridge 

 manure to the acre, sown as above. 



Mr. W. W. Harris, of Cumberland, president of the State board of agriculture, gives 

 his experience in raising sugar beets as follows : 



I have raised beets every year for five years. I first raised the genuine sugar beets 

 in 1878, to the extent of two acres. The soil is clay loam. In 1877 it was worn-out 

 grass land, cutting only half a ton of hay to the acre. That spring (1877) I plowed it 



