GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN MICHIGAN AND OHIO. Psy 
The blocking consists of hoeing out all of the surplus plants and 
leaving a small bunch of beets at regular intervals in the row. The 
thinning should be carefully performed so that only one plant is 
left in a place and in a manner which will result in retaining 
the strongest plants evenly distributed throughout the length of the 
row. For the men who gave estimates on this operation, the spac- 
ing was from 9 to 12 inches apart in the row. 
Fifteen per cent of the farmers did the blocking and thinning with 
their own farm labor. The average labor requirements per acre 
varied from 25 to 36 hours and cost from $5 to $7.50 per acre. 
Iie. 18.—Hoeing sugar beets after the crop has made considerable growth. 
HOEING. 
The agreement for contract hand labor stipulates that the beets 
shall be hoed twice and shall be kept free from weeds in the row 
and for a distance of 3 inches on each side of the row. (See fig. 18.) 
Z TABLE XIII.—Hoeing. 
Acres in beets per | 
Namen farm. i ’Man Labor 
zie : Times hours cost 
Districts. of Mince nun War nce SHRI 
records. hoed. per per 
Total. Hoed. re BON. 
ORTON SIGE 0 I ies a NN a oa nea 13 8. 82 8.59 1.48 WL" $3.13 
INIT C GIR Aas eis IA Ne apes nO Baers Minera. 21 7. 65 7. 65 1.09 17. 80 3. 56 
Chigrnayel TEER NGI Us Gin ee es Mesa 25 4.36 4,36 122 27. 67 508 
Northwestern Ohio sees. sone eee 16 16. 49 10. 89 1.00 9. 60 1.92 
The contract rate for two hoeings was $3 per acre. It will be 
noticed (Table XIII) that the cost per acre in three districts where 
