Harvesting 153 



vantage to both the farmer and the sugar company to 

 have the beets properly topped. The cut should be made 

 just at the sunline as shown in Plate XIII. This is in- 

 dicated by the coloring in the part of the beet that pro- 

 trudes above the surface of the ground. 



The crown is low in sugar, as shown in Fig. 6. It is 

 also high in salts, which interfere greatly in the purifica- 

 tion of the sugar. These salts must be removed before 

 the sugar can be made to crystallize. The salts so 

 troublesome to the sugar makers are some of the very 

 ones that are desirable for plant-food in the soil ; it is to 

 the interest of the farmer to have them retained on the 

 land. The sugar company wants only the sugar, which 

 is the part that comes from the air; the fanner needs 

 the salts in order to maintain the fertility of his soil. 

 Proper topping serves the interests of both farmer and 

 factory. 



When the beets are piled in windrows with the leaves 

 all one way, the toppers can go along the windrows on 

 their knees and do the topping without much bending. 

 When the person doing the topping stands, he must do 

 considerable bending in picking up the beets. This is 

 in part overcome by having a hook fastened to the knife 

 near the point. The hook is driven into the beet, which 

 is thereby picked up without the operator having to 

 stoop so far. Some object to the use of the hook since 

 the wound it makes in the beet doubtless results in a 

 slight loss of sugar. Whether this loss is enough to make 

 up for the advantage is not known. 



After the beets are topped, they are piled on a place 

 that has been cleared of tops. They are now ready to be 



