Seven soil conditioners added to a sandy clay soil at Saxmundham did not benefit sugar-beet seedling emergence in four experiments in 3 years. In microplots at Broom's Barn free draining peat and sandy loam gave consistently more seedlings than limestone loam or flinty loam. In the laboratory, for each of three soil types, emergence was maximal only for a small soil moisture range and decreased rapidly when soils became drier or wetter. This suggests that conditioners which increase water-holding capacity should be tested on sandy loams rather than clay soils and that seed-bed preparation on heavier soils should seek to aerate the soil.