THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY IX 1920. 17 
Blocking and thinnintf. — A good stand of beets very largely de- 
pends upon careful blocking and thinning. Blocking consists in cut- 
ting out a portion of the beets by means of a hoe or other suitable 
implement (PL III, fig. 1), usually operated at right angles to the 
row, leaving the remaining beets in tufts from 8 to 10 inches apart. 
This should be done while the beets are very small. It is very easy 
for the careless workman to strike the row at an angle, making the 
distance between the tufts very much greater. Frequently the tufts 
themselves are destroyed by careless use of the blocking implement. 
When the plants have been destroyed, practically nothing can be done 
to replace them. Transplanting sugar beets to the vacant spaces has 
not been found practicable on a commercial scale. 
The thinning is done by hand and consists in pulling out from each 
tuft all the plants but one. Careless workers will often destroy or 
pull out all the plants from the tuft, thereby reducing the stand. 
Frequently in thinning the dirt is removed so that the young plants 
are left with their tender stems subject to the influence of the rays 
of the sun. the heat of which sometimes destroys them. The dirt 
should be brought close around the plant that is left so as to protect it 
from injurjr. 
Cultivating. — Many otherwise good stands of beets are seriously 
injured by the cultivators either covering the young plants with dirt 
or tearing them out. This injury is frequently due to carelessness and 
sometimes to accident. Sugar beets are usually cultivated by means 
of a -1-row cultivator (PI. IV, fig. 1). If by accident or otherwise 
the cultivator is permitted to shift so that several plants are injured 
or destroyed in one row, the same number of plants will be injured or 
removed from each of the four row^s. This is a common cause of poor 
stands in many fields. A feAv beets cut out of four rows here and 
there in the field each time the beets are cultivated will have a marked 
effect upon the final stand and will greatly reduce the yield of beets 
harvested. Success in operating the cultivator depends upon the con- 
dition of the seed bed, upon the animals, the driver, and the adjust- 
ment of the implement. By careful attention on the part of the driver, 
nearly all the injury due to cultivation may be avoided, provided the 
seed bed is in good condition and the drill rows are straight, When 
the beet leaves cover the ground, as shown in Plate IV, figure 2, the 
crop is laid by, and no further work is done until the harvest begins. 
Diseases affecting the stand. — One of the common agencies affect- 
ing the stand of sugar beets is disease. Nearly all sugar-beet dis- 
eases are due to parasitic organisms. One of the most serious affect- 
ing the stand is the damping-off of the young beets. Later in the 
season root-rot does considerable damage in some localities. Leaf- 
56830°— Bull. 90.")— 21 2 
