606 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



like a lamp wick and draws the moisture 

 up from below. 



Plant all the seed at a uniform depth. 

 The importance of this will be apparent 

 when we consider the operation of thin- 

 ning the beets. Only two conditions are 

 necessary in order to plant at a uniform 

 depth. First, the surface of the ground 

 must be smooth and firm, and, second, the 

 drill shoes must each stand on the same 

 level. 



In order to get a good stand of beets, 

 which is the first requisite of a satis- 

 factory crop, plenty of seed must be used, 

 so there will be no gaps or spaces of any 

 considerable distance where there are no 

 beets. Usually from 15 to 20 pounds 

 of seed per acre will be sufficient to ac- 

 complish this result. If a large number 

 of seeds germinate at the same time, each 

 plantlet will help others to get through 

 to the light; hence the importance of 

 plenty of seed in a well-prepared seed bed. 



Experience has determined that in gen- 

 eral the most satisfactory distance be- 

 tween rows is from IS to 22 inches. It 

 is evident that very fertile soil capable of 

 holding an abundance of moisture will 

 yield better results with narrow rows 

 than will a less fertile soil with a lower 

 water-holding capacity. 



Spacing and Thinning 



As already indicated, the present 

 method of planting beet seed is in solid 

 rows instead of in hills, in order to obtain 

 a more uniform and nearly perfect stand 

 of beets. Having secured a good germina- 

 tion it next becomes important to thin 

 the beets down to one in a place at suit- 

 able distances apart in the row to produce 

 a good crop. The first step in reducing 

 the beets to one In a place is that of 

 spacing the beets, which is usually done 

 with a hand hoe used at right angles to the 

 row. In this manner a large number 

 of the plants are cut out and the remain- 

 ing beets are left in small tufts at inter- 

 vals of 8 to 12 inches in the row. In per- 

 forming this operation the hoe should be 

 struck just deep enough so that the beets 

 cut off will not grow again and so that 

 all weeds that may have started in the 

 row will be destroyed. 



Several machines have been devised for 

 spacing beets, but they have not come 

 into general use. 



As soon as the beets have been spaced, 

 the tufts should be thinned to one in a 

 place. This work must be done with the 

 hands, since the beet plants stand so close 

 together that no machine has been de- 

 vised that is capable of doing the work 

 satisfactorily. It is seldom the case that 

 two beets left in the same tuft will pro- 

 duce the same weight of beet roots that 

 would have been produced by either of 

 the beets alone. 



The beets should be spaced and thinned 

 just as soon as possible after they are 

 up. This can usually be done when the 

 plants have from 4 to 6 leaves. 



Cultivating 



There are three principal objects to bo 

 accomplished by the use of the cultivator; 

 namely, the destruction of weeds, the re- 

 tention of moisture, and the interchange 

 of gases in the soil. The purpose for 

 which the cultivator is operated should 

 be kept in mind, and the cultivator 

 should be fitted with attachments accord- 

 ingly. In using the weeders care should 

 be taken that they do not form a crust 

 just below the mulch produced by the 

 weeder blades. This may be avoided 

 by attaching calf-tongues just back of the 

 weeder and so setting them that the 

 points operate a little deeper than the 

 weeder blades. 



Some growers are partial to the disks 

 when the beets are small. These are 

 useful if the main object is the forma- 

 tion of a mulch or if a light crust has 

 formed which it is desired to break and 

 at the same time to form a mulch. The 

 disks, if properly set, prevent the dirt 

 from being thrown over the young beets, 

 which is a point that should be strong- 

 ly emphasized at every cultivation, re- 

 gardless of the kind of attachments used. 

 The objection to the disk is that it leaves 

 a furrow on either side of the beet row, 

 and consequently the plants stand on a 

 ridge, which is inclined to dry out. To 

 avoid this condition a bull-tongue should 

 be attached back of each of the disks and 

 so adjusted that the furrows formed by 



