20 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



as to the purposes, the legislative decision 

 should always stand. 



How the Supreme Court of the United 

 States will decide this question remains to 

 fte seen. But taking into consideration 

 the needs and necessities of the arid West, 

 which resulted in change from the com- 

 mon law doctrine of waters to the doctrine 



of appropriation which has already been 

 sustained by that Court, and also the 

 needs and necessities for the organization 

 of the districts in question for the better 

 development of the country at large, it 

 seems to us that the Court will sustain the 

 decisions already given by the Supreme 

 Court of California. 



SUGAR BEETS IN THE PECOS VALLEY. 



BY GEO. R. BUCKMAN. 



THE sugar beet industry is rapidly 

 growing in importance in the United 

 States, as evidenced by the fact that the 

 production has increased from 300 tons in 

 1887 to 21, 825 tons in 1893. In spite of 

 this great growth, we are still furnishing 

 a relatively small proportion of the world's 

 production of beet sugar, which in the lat- 

 ter year was 3,402,000 tons, about one- 

 third of which was produced in Germany. 

 In Europe there are fourteen hundred and 

 fifty beet sugar factories, while in the 

 United States there are but six. Since 

 the United States produces only about 

 twelve per cent of all the sugar it con- 

 sumes, it would seem to require no 

 argument to prove that there is room for 

 a further very great expansion of the beet 

 sugar industry in this country. Three- 

 fifths of the world's production of sugar 

 is derived from the sugar beet, and hence 

 the facts relating to the progress in the 

 culture of this root in the United States 

 are of natural interest and importance. 



It has long been known that the sugar 

 beet attains its highest perfection in the 

 so called arid region of the United States 

 and particularly in its southern portions. 

 The soil and climate of this region, sup- 

 plemented by irrigation, conspire to pro- 

 duce beets high in sugar and purity and 

 yielding heavily in tonnage per acre. 

 Many well informed people believe that 

 the beet sugar industry of the future will 

 center in this region, and hence are watch- 

 ing developments in this quarter with 

 great interest. I make no apology there- 

 fore in giving the following somewhat de- 

 tailed account of results in sugar beet cul- 

 ture obtained during its present season in 

 the Pecos valley, in southeastern New Mex- 

 ico, to which the partial failure of this sea- 

 son's beet crop in Nebraska as well as in 



parts of France and Germany lends a 

 further timely interest. 



It has been known for several years 

 that beets yielding high percentages iu 

 sugar and purity could be grown in the 

 Pecos valley; and as long ago as 1891 

 sample beets from the Valley were sent to 

 the Agricultural Department at Washing- 

 ton, which analyzed remarkably high. 

 But about two years ago The Pecos Com- 

 pany undertook itself by an extended ser- 

 ies of experiments to determine accurately 

 the capabilities of this section for beet cul- 

 ture. It engaged for this work Mr. E. M. 

 Skeats, an agricultural chemist of Wool- 

 wich, Engtend, who had had wide experi- 

 ence, not only in that country, but in South 

 America and the United States. Under 

 his directions several approved kinds of 

 seed were distributed to the farmers in 

 various portions of the Valley, the growth 

 and cultivation watched, and analyses of 

 the beets made at various stages of their 

 growth. During the present season in 

 particular these experiments have been 

 carried on quite extensively, with results 

 that are astonishing even to those who 

 entertained the highest opinion of the 

 Pecos valley as a sugar beet country. 

 During the early days of November, anal- 

 yses were made of beets grown in about 

 twenty different places in the Valley. The 

 results are remarkable. Beets were an- 

 alyzed which ran as high as 21.10 per 

 cent in sugar and 86. 90 per cent purity, 

 while the average of one entire n'eld was 

 19.40 per cent sugar and 84.86 per cent 

 purity. These high percentages were 

 found in almost every part of the Valley, 

 the only exceptions being where inferior 

 seed had been used or where proper care 

 and cultivation had been denied. None 

 of the beets examined at that time had 



