120 The Sugar-Beet in America 



often makes the farmer satisfied with the lower yield. 

 The whole question of distance of spacing is so much de- 

 pendent on local conditions that the farmer is safer in 

 following local practice than any general advice. It is 

 probable that the distance is more often too great than 

 too small, since in thinning more ground can be covered 

 if the beets are far apart and the tendency is to stretch 

 ten inches to twelve or fourteen. Under average con- 

 ditions, from ten to twelve inches is about the correct 

 distance. 



After deciding on the time to thin and the distance be- 

 tween beets in the row, the next thing is a sharp hoe with 

 which to do the blocking. This is accomplished by cutting 

 out all plants in the row except bunches that are left as 

 far apart as the beets are to grow. From these bunches 

 all plants but one are removed. In blocking the beets, 

 it is well to lay out a strip of land containing sixteen to 

 twenty rows and proceed much as in plowing the land 

 so as to leave a back furrow with soil hoed from the fur- 

 row as seldom as possible. Later in cultivating the rows 

 with the back furrow, the soil and clods are thrown on the 

 young plants and may injure them. Expert blockers 

 with the right kind of hoe can make the proper width 

 with a single stroke. 



Next comes the tedious process of thinning (Plate XI), 

 in which all the plants except one are removed from the 

 bunch. In every case the most vigorous plant in the bunch 

 should be left. Experiments have shown an appreciable 

 difference in yield where a comparison was made between 

 leaving the weak and the strong plants. If two beets 

 are left at a place, each interferes with the other, pro- 



