Harvesting 153 
vantage to both the farmer and the sugar company to 
have the beets properly topped. The cut should be made 
just at the sunline as shown in Plate XIII. This is in- 
dicated by the coloring in the part of the beet that pro- 
trudes above the surface of the ground. 
The crown is low in sugar, as shown in Fig. 6. It is 
also high in salts, which interfere greatly in the purifica- 
tion of the sugar. These salts must be removed before 
the sugar can be made to crystallize. The salts so 
troublesome to the sugar makers are some of the very 
ones that are desirable for plant-food in the soil; it is to 
the interest of the farmer to have them retained on the 
land. The sugar company wants only the sugar, which 
is the part that comes from the air; the farmer needs 
the salts in order to maintain the fertility of his soil. 
Proper topping serves the interests of both farmer and 
factory. 
When the beets are piled in windrows with the leaves 
all one way, the toppers can go along the windrows on 
their knees and do the topping without much bending. 
When the person doing the topping stands, he must do 
considerable bending in picking up the beets. This is 
in part overcome by having a hook fastened to the knife 
near the point. The hook is driven into the beet, which 
is thereby picked up without the operator having to 
stoop so far. Some object to the use of the hook since 
the wound it makes in the beet doubtless results in a 
slight loss of sugar. Whether this loss is enough to make 
up for the advantage is not known. 
After the beets are topped, they are piled on a place 
that has been cleared of tops. They are now ready to be 
