36 BULLETIN 963, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
available supply of water is low. Most lands in this region, to pro- 
duce a normal yield of sugar beets, need two to four or more irriga- 
tions per growing season. 
In the Lehi district 3 per cent of the acreage of sugar beets was not 
irrigated. in all of the other regions all of the acreage received one 
or more irrigations. Water was applied, on the average, six times 
- per season on the Lehi fields, and about five times at Garland, Idaho 
Falls, and Twin Falls. (Fig. 10.) The irrigation season extended 
from May to the latter part of September. The available supply of 
water determines the number of irrigations applied in the latter 
part of the growing season, as most men believe that late irrigation 
increases the yields. When the soil is too dry at planting time, the 
erowers elther irrigate the land before planting or furrow irrigate 
immediately after planting. Then the crop is left as long as possible 
before irrigating the young beets, since a run of water interferes with 
cultivation and it is somewhat difficult to make furrows between 
the rows of small beets without covering some of the young plants. 
It is also generally assumed that, when young, the beets can stand 
more drouth without injury than they can later in the season. 
Where one has water available, the plants should not suffer for water 
at any time during the season. To obtain maximum yields it is 
essential that the beets use the entire growing season, and they 
can not make growth when suffering from lack of moisture. 
The man-labor requirement varied somewhat for the different 
districts, owing to the difference in the acreage irrigated per day and 
the number of irrigations. The variation is greater between farms 
in the same region than between the district averages. There are 
many factors that influence the labor necessary for the irrigation of 
a given piece of land. The lay of the land and the head of water 
available are undoubtedly the most important of these factors. 
BLOCKING AND THINNING. 
Enough beet seed is usually drilled to give more plants than are 
required, provided a good germination is obtained. As soon as the 
plants are large enough so that the rows can be distinguished the 
blocking and thinning is done. Blocking, which means chopping 
out surplus plants with the hoe, leaves small clusters of beets ten to 
twelve inches apart in the row. Thinning, which is done by hand, 
takes out the surplus plants in each cluster. On a small farm the 
operator, with the assistance of members of the family, does part 
or all of this work. 
In the Lehi area 90 per cent of this work was handled by the 
operator and his family. The rest represented contract labor for 
the handwork. In the Garland district 80 per cent was handled 
by the operator and his family. In the Twin Falls area essentially 
