GROWING CULTIVATED CROPS IN DRY AREAS 305 



ground. The weeder will usually answer best. It should 

 be run across the rows. Quite a number of the plants 

 may be torn out, but that will do no harm, providing 

 enough are left in. A few days subsequently cultivation 

 should begin, and even earlier if the harrow has not been 

 used. It should be reasonably deep at first, should be 

 repeated every 10 to 14 days when practicable until the 

 leaves reach far out into the row, and subsequently at 

 longer intervals until the leaves almost meet between 

 the rows. The ground should, in all or nearly all in- 

 stances, be left smooth after the cultivator. 



The aim should be to thin the plants before they 

 get beyond the height of, say, 3 inches. This is usually 

 done in the case of carrots, mangels and sugar beets, by 

 striking a sharp hoe of suitable width across the line of 

 the row, so that but few plants are left in the clumps 

 unremoved. From these clumps all but one plant is re- 

 moved by hand. In the case of rutabagas, turnips and 

 kohlrabi, an expert workman will thin the plants almost 

 entirely with the hoe. Carrots may be left from 4 to 6 

 inches apart, mangels from 8 to 12, sugar beets 6 to 7, 

 rutabagas, turnips and kohlrabi 8 to 12. It may be neces- 

 sary to use hoe and hand labor a second time on these 

 crops to remove plants not needed and stray weeds. 



Harvesting. Mangels and sugar beets should be 

 harvested before frost becomes severe, or it will so injure 

 the exposed portions as to harm their keeping qualities. 

 Carrots, rutabagas, turnips and kohlrabi may be left in 

 the ground should this be desired, until the approach of 

 the season when it will be locked by frost. 



Carrots and mangels are usually lifted by hand and 

 thrown into piles for being topped after a furrow has 

 been turned with a plow which has loosened them so that 

 they lie at an angle rather than upright. Sugar beets may 

 be raised in the same way, but frequently they are raised 

 or rather loosened by an implement that runs beneath 



