BEET CULTUKE 



IN Beet Culture California retains her leadership in 

 factory capacity and output of beet sugar, and seems 

 likely to do so. The factories in California have a daily 

 capacity of 8,500 tons of beets, while all the other facto- 

 ries in the Union combined average 8,300 tons. The 

 sugar beet is raised in and around the following localities : 

 Alvarado, Watsonville, Chino, Los Alamitos, Crockett, 

 Spreckels, Oxnard, and Santa Maria. 



The statement of the cost of raising beets and the profits 

 derived therefrom is taken from the books of a beet farm 

 near San Juan, and is quoted by Mr. Claus Spreckels, 

 the father of Beet Culture in California. 



It will be noted that in the case quoted above the land 

 was rented. This land as a rule belongs to the owners 

 of the factories, and so far the contract system of leasing 

 land to farmers has worked well. Under the contract 

 system the farmer has the assurance that he will get his 

 money promptly at an agreed price upon the delivery of 

 his product. He has also the advantage of the factory's 

 expert advice upon all questions relating to the culture 

 and harvesting of the beet. On the other hand, the 

 farmer who owns his own land makes a larger profit, and 

 consequently takes greater risks. Time — as General 

 Chipman has well pointed out — will settle the present 

 difference of opinion as to whether the farmer should be 

 paid on the basis of the richness of the beet, or by the 

 ton regardless of its purity or the sugar it contains. 



