32 
BULLETIN 726, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGBICULTUBE. 
1914 and 1915. The usual contract price for the blocking and thin- 
ning in northern Colorado during 1914-15 was $6 per acre (fig. 13). 
It will be seen that the estimated cost for those farms where the 
operator did this work himself was somewhat lower than the con- 
tract price. This was also true of hoeing. 
Hoeing. — There were 28 farms in the Kocky Ford section, 23 at 
Fort Morgan, and 32 at Greeley that reported on hoeing practice. 
Practically two hoeings were given in addition to the blocking. It 
required 10.2 man-hours per acre, to do the hoeing on the Kocky 
Ford farms in 1914 and 1915, and the cost was $1.84 per acre. The 
Fort Morgan growers spent 12.2 hours per acre in 1915, involving a 
cost of $2.33, while at Greeley, in 1914 and 1915, 10.9 hours per 
acre were consumed in doing the hoeing, and the cost was $2.07. 
Fig. 14. — Hoeing beets. This work must be commenced by the contractor as soon as the thinning is com- 
pleted and the grower has finished the second cultivation. 
The contract acre rate for the second and third hoeings at Greeley 
and Fort Morgan was $2 and $1, respectively. It will be observed 
that the estimated cost for hoeing was much less than the contract 
labor rate. The time for hoeing extended from May to August 
(fig. 14). 
CULTIVATION. 
As soon as the plants show four leaves, before blocking and thin- 
ning, the first cultivation is given (Table XVIII) . The cultivator is 
equipped with L-shaped knives for cutting a small amount of earth 
away' from the row (fig. 15). A small duck foot is used to stir the 
