30 BULLETIN 693, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
and thereby requiring more time per acre to do this work. (See 
figs. 7 and 8.) 
BLOCKING AND THINNING. 
Sufficient beet seed is usually drilled in the row to give more plants 
than are required, provided a good germination is obtained. As 
soon as the plants are large enough to distinguish the rows, the t 
blocking and thinning are done. The blocking, which means 
chopping out surplus plants with a hoe, leaves small clusters of beets 
10 to 12 inches apart in the row. The thinning, which is done by 
hand, takes out the surplus plants in each cluster, thereby leaving 
the proper number of beet plants in the row. On the small farm the 
operator, with the assistance of other members of the family, does 
this part of the work. The blocking is done with a hoe which aver- 
Fig. 7.— Making openings along the field laterals in order to irrigate sugar beets on portion of field to 
left of large stream of water. A canvas dam may be seen in the foreground. 
ages about 6 inches in width. The small bunches of beets were left 
about 10 to 12 inches apart in the row in the Garland and Provo 
districts. At Idaho Falls the estimated distance was about 14 
inches. The laborer has instructions to leave the strongest and 
most vigorous plants, and these are disturbed as little as possible. 
When this precaution is not observed it usually takes the young 
plants a few days to recover from the setback they receive. A 
perfect stand can be obtained only by exercising care at this stage of 
the cultivation of the crop. 
The handwork with sugar beets may be considered from the 
standpoint of contract labor covering all the items in question, or it 
may be discussed from the viewpoint of the farmer who does a part 
or possibly all of the handwork. The actual cash outlay furnishes a 
