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After the beets have been pulled they 
are topped. This consists in cutting oft 
each beet at the line of the lowest leaf 
scar, which is usually done by one stroke 
of a heavy knife. The object in topping 
the beets is to remove the leaves, which 
contain but a small amount of sugar, and 
to remove the crown or upper part of 
the beet, which contains a large percent- 
age of the mineral matter taken up from 
the soil. The mineral matter prevents 
a given amount of sugar from crystal- 
lizing and for this reason should not 
be allowed to get into the juices in the 
mill. When the beets are topped the 
roots are thrown into piles, from which 
they are loaded on wagons by means of 
specially constructed forks; that is, the 
fork tines have knobs on the ends to 
prevent the tines from puncturing the 
roots. Before the beets are topped the 
ground where they are to be piled should 
be freed from clods and refuse material, 
so that nothing but clean beets will be 
forked to the wagons. If the beets can 
not be hauled immediately after topping 
they should be covered to prevent evapo- 
ration or freezing. If the weather is not 
cold enough to freeze the beets it is 
usually sufficient to cover the piles with 
the beet tops, but if there is danger of 
freezing a sufficient quantity of earth 
should be thrown over the piles to pre- 
vent the roots from becoming frosted. 
When the beets are delivered to the 
sugar mill or loading station, they are 
tared. The tare consists of two parts, 
the dirt tare and the crown tare. The 
dirt tare is the percentage of dirt that 
clings to the roots when loaded and the 
crown tare consists of the percentage of 
crown left on the roots, due to improper 
topping. 
Crop Rotation 
Every farm should have a well-defined 
system of crop rotation. The object of 
crop rotation, if properly arranged, is 
twofold. Each crop should leave the 
ground in better condition for the next 
crop than it was before, and each crop 
should prevent the propagation and de- 
velopment of plant pests. The fallacy 
that sugar beets injure the soil has not 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
only been exploded, but just the reverse 
has been found to be the tact It is true 
that sugar beets take out of the soil the 
same elements that ale removed by other 
crops, but in slightly different propor- 
tions. But, as has been stated, a large 
part of these mineral elements is in the 
top, which, if properly handled, will be 
returned to the soil in the torm of ma- 
nure, so that in the end but little plant 
food is removed fiom the soil by the 
beet crop. Furthermore, the beet crop 
leaves the soil in good tilth for the next 
crop. Experience in all sugar beet coun- 
tries has demonstrated the fact that 
larger crops of grain can be grown after 
beets than after any other crop so far as 
known. This seems to be due to the ex- 
cellent condition in which the soil is left 
by the beet crop and to the depth of the 
root bed occupied by the beet roots. It 
is not apparent that sugar beets add any 
fertilizing material to the soil, but the 
fibrous roots that are left in the ground 
when the beets are harvested improve its 
physical condition. 
If sugar beets are to be one of the 
crops in the rotation system, the crop 
preceding the beets should be of such a 
nature that it can be harvested in time 
to plow the ground for beets in the fall. 
One of the crops in the system should be 
a legume, such as alfalfa, peas, beans, etc. 
These are nitrogen-storing crops, and if 
the soil is deficient in humus, as is the 
case in most of the irrigated sections, a 
green crop should be plowed under. Not 
more than two sugar beet crops should be 
grown in succession on the same field, 
chiefly for the reason that a continual 
cropping with sugar beets tends to pro- 
mote the development of serious pests, 
such as leaf spot, root rot, and insects. 
It is true that more than two crops of 
beets may sometimes be grown in suc- 
cession, but it is a dangerous practice 
and should be avoided. 
Fertilizers 
As a rule, the soils in the irrigated 
sections of the country are rich—that is, 
they contain in abundance the mineral 
elements necessary for plant growth; but 
In many cases these mineral elements are 
