120 The Sugar-Beet in America 
often makes the farmer satisfied with the lower yield. 
The whole question of distance of spacing is so much de- 
pendent on local conditions that the farmer is safer in 
following local practice than any general advice. It is 
probable that the distance is more often too great than 
too small, since in thinning more ground can be covered 
if the beets are far apart and the tendency is to stretch 
ten inches to twelve or fourteen. Under average con- 
ditions, from ten to twelve inches is about the correct 
distance. 
After deciding on the time to thin and the distance be- 
tween beets in the row, the next thing is a sharp hoe with 
which to do the blocking. This is accomplished by cutting 
out all plants in the row except bunches that are left as 
far apart as the beets are to grow. From these bunches 
all plants but one are removed. In blocking the beets, 
it is well to lay out a strip of land containing sixteen to 
twenty rows and proceed much as in plowing the land 
so as to leave a back furrow with soil hoed from the fur- 
row as seldom as possible. Later in cultivating the rows 
with the back furrow, the soil and clods are thrown on the 
young plants and may injure them. Expert blockers 
with the right kind of hoe can make the proper width 
with a single stroke. 
Next comes the tedious process of thinning (Plate XI), 
in which all the plants except one are removed from the 
bunch. In every case the most vigorous plant in the bunch 
should be left. Experiments have shown an appreciable 
difference in yield where a comparison was made between 
leaving the weak and the strong plants. If two beets 
are left at a place, each interferes with the other, pro- 
