16 BULLETIN" 721, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
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 thimung. — 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 (PL III, 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 
rays of the sun, the heat of which sometimes destroys the young 
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 IY, 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. 
