GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 
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thinned from 7 to 10 inches apart, leaving only one plant in each place; no double 
beets shall be left. This work must be done so that the land will be entirely free 
from weeds. 
Second hoeing. — This work must be commenced by the contractor as soon as the 
thinning is completed and the grower has finished the second cultivation by hoeing 
a little deeper than the first hoeing, killing and removing all weeds, and removing 
any double plants that may have been overlooked in the thinning. The grower 
must keep the crop cultivated so that at least 10 inches of the center of the row remains 
clear of all weeds and foul growth up to the time of the third hoeing. 
Third hoeing. — A third hoeing must be given the beets by the contractor, and in 
addition to such third hoeing any and all further hoeing necessary to keep the beets 
free from weeds until harvest of the beets is commenced must be done by the con- 
tractor, and in the event of the beets having grown so large that a third or further 
hoeing would injure them, then all weeds that grow up to the time of the com- 
mencement of harvest must be removed by hand, as the beets must be kept free 
from weeds at all times until harvested. 
Blocking and thinning. — For the early plantings, the blocking and 
thinning may begin in the latter part of April. Under normal con- 
Fig. 13.— Bunding and thinning. 
ditions the contract labor should be well under way by the middle 
of May. For the late plantings, or fields that may require replanting, 
the time for blocking and thinning may extend to the middle of 
June. This work was done in the Rocky Ford district almost entirely 
on a contract basis. There were but two men in this region who 
did their own hand work. The blocking and thinning on these 
farms required 30.8 hours per acre and cost $5.54. There were 23 
growers at Fort Morgan who handled either a part or all of their 
own blocking and thinning, while the Greeley list afforded only 28 
records on this operation. The Fort Morgan growers spent 28.6 
hours per acre in blocking and thinning, involving a cost of $5.44 
per acre, in 1915, while the Greeley growers had an average labor 
requirement of 25.4 hours per acre, with a cost of $4.83 per acre, in 
