16 BULLETIN 721, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICtJLTUBE. 



caught in it, a light harrow or a roller will sometimes put the sur- 

 face in shape so that the plants will break through. If the crust is 

 thick and the plants are embedded in it, there is frequently no remedy 

 except to harrow the ground and replant. A crust may be prevented 

 or greatly retarded by the use of lime and by keeping the ground 

 well supplied with humus. 



Blocking and thhimng. — A good stand of beets very largely de- 

 pends upon careful blocking and thinning. Blocking consists of cut- 

 ting out a portion of the beets by means of a hoe or other suitable 

 implement (PI. Ill, fig. 1), usually operated at right angles to the 

 row, leaving the remaining beets in tufts from 8 to 10 inches apart. 

 This should be done while the beets are very small. It is very easy 

 for the careless workman to strike the row at an angle, making the 

 distance between the tufts very much greater, and frequently the 

 tufts themselves are destroyed by careless use of the blocking imple- 

 ment. When the plants have been destroyed, practically nothing can 

 be done to replace them. Transplanting to vacant spaces has not 

 been found practicable on a commercial scale. 



The thinning is done by hand and consists in pulling out from 

 each tuft all the plants but one. Careless workers will often destroy 

 or pull out all the plants from the tuft, thereby reducing the stand. 

 The young plants when thinned are frequently left with the dirt 

 removed so that the tender stems are subject to the influence of the 

 raj'S of the sun, the heat of which sometimes destroj's the j^oung 

 plants. The dirt, therefore, should be brought around the plant that 

 is left, thereby protecting it from injury. 



Cultivating. — ^Many otherwise good stands of beets are seriously 

 injured by the cultivator, either by covering the young plants with 

 dirt or by tearing them out. This injury is sometimes due to care- 

 lessness and sometimes to accident. Sugar beets are usually culti- 

 vated by means of a 4-row cultivator (Plate IV, fig. 1). If by acci- 

 dent or otherwise the cultivator is permitted to shift so that several 

 plants are injured or destroyed in one row, the same number of plants 

 will be injured or removed from each of the four rows. This is a 

 common cause of poor stands in many fields. A few beets cut out of 

 four rows here and there in the field each time the beets are cultivated 

 will have a marked effect upon the final stand and will greatly reduce 

 the yield of beets harvested. The success in operating the cultivator 

 depends upon the condition of the seed bed and upon the animals and 

 the driver, as well as upon the adjustment of the implement. By 

 careful attention upon the part of the driver, nearly all the injury 

 due to cultivation may be avoided, provided the seed bed is in good 

 condition and the drill rows are straight. When the beet leaves cover 

 the ground, as shown in Plate IV, figure 2, the crop is laid by, and no 

 further work is done until the harvest begins. 



