GROWING SUGAR. BEETS IN MICHIGAN AND OHIO. 



25 



The blocking consists of hoeing out all of the surplus plants and 

 leaving a small bunch of beets at regular intervals in the row. The 

 thinning should be carefully performed so that only one plant is 

 left in a place and in a manner which will result in retaining 

 the strongest plants evenly distributed throughout the length of the 

 row. For the men who gave estimates on this operation, the spac- 

 ing was from 9 to 12 inches apart in the row. 



Fifteen per cent of. the farmers did the blocking and thinning with 

 their own farm labor. The average labor requirements per acre 

 varied from 25 to 36 hours and cost from $5 to $7.50 per acre. 



Fig. 18. — Hoeing sugar beets after the crop has made considerable growth. 



HOEING. 



The agreement for contract hand labor stipulates that the beets 

 shall be hoed twice and shall be kept free from weeds in the row 

 and for a distance of 3 inches on each side of the row. (See fig. 18.) 



Table XIII.— Hoeing. 



Districts. 



Number 



of 

 records. 



Acres in beets per 

 farm. 



Times 

 hoed. 



Man 



hours 



per 



acre. 



Labor 

 cost 





Total. 



Hoed. 



acre. 





13 

 21 

 25 

 16 



8.82 

 7.65 

 4.36 

 16.49 



8.59 

 7.65 

 4.36 

 10.89 



1.48 

 1.09 

 1.22 

 1.00 



17. 17 

 17.80 

 27.67 

 9.60 



S3. 13 





3.56 





5.53 





1.92 







The contract rate for two hoeings was $3 per acre. It will be 

 noticed (Table XIII) that the cost per acre in three districts where 



