"340 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



'buted an interesting article, published in 

 bulletin No. 4'2, containing the observa- 

 tions and conclusions of his study of the 

 subject, which he designates "Growing 

 Sugar Beets for Factories." Mr. West 

 studied this subject in Nebraska, Utah, 

 and New Mexico. Of the growing of beets 

 in Nebraska he says: The farmers are 

 largely Germans, with some Russians. 

 Women and children work with the men 

 in the fields. Where a large acreage is in 

 beets, the thinning, weeding, hoeing, pull- 

 ing, and topping is done by contract. La- 

 borers receive from fifteen to twenty dol- 

 lars per month, the usual wages by the day 

 being one dollar and board. On contract 

 work the rate is from fifty cents to one dol- 

 lar for boys; one dollar for men and wo- 

 men, without board. For a man and team, 

 two dollars and fifty cents per day; for 

 man and horse, one dollar and seventy-five 

 cents. Land rent from three dollars and 

 fifty cents to six dollars per acre. 



The average yield in 1897 was 7.25 tons, 

 and the sugar extracted by the factory at 

 Norfolk was 10.95 per cent. The percent- 

 age of sugar in the beets was 13.1 percent, 

 purity 81.5 per cent. 



The Grand Island beet raisers averaged 

 8.1 tons per acre. The average percentage 

 of sugar in the beets in 1897 is said to 

 have been 12.87, and purity 79.5. The 

 percentage of sugar obtained from these 

 'beets by the factory was 8.72. 



The tables given show that in 1897 the 

 factories at Norfolk and Grand Island 

 treated the largest tonnage and made the 

 highest saving attained up to that year. 

 The range of farm wages is from fourteen 

 to twenty dollars per month, with board; 

 and from one dollar to a dollar and a quar- 

 ter by the day. Women aud children gen- 

 erally work on the contract plan. Many 

 girls get a dollar a day in the beet fields, 

 and prefer it to house work. Boys from 

 ten to eighteen years of age receive from 

 fifty to eighty cents per day, a man and 

 team two dollars and fifty cents, and a man 



and horse one dollar and seventy-five cents 

 per day. Contracts can occasionally be 

 made, as in Colorado, at two dollars per 

 day for man and team. Land rentals 

 range from four dollars to seven dollars 

 per acre. The crop of 1897 is said to have 

 been reduced fully one-third by drought. 

 No beets are grown by irrigation in Neb- 

 raska. 



At Lehi. Utah, the conditions are said 

 to be ideal for the growing of beets and 

 running a sugar factory. The farms vary 

 from five to forty acres in extent, and fully 

 nine-tenths of them are worked by the 

 owners. Mortgages are rare and the far- 

 mers prosperous. The women do not 

 work in the fields, and the girls seldom 

 work there unless at home. Much of the 

 hand labor is done by boys. The average 

 acreage per grower is less than four acres. 

 The highest average yield per acre was in 

 1896, 13.4 tons. The average per acre 

 from 1891 to 1897, inclusive, was 9.44 

 tons. The highest average percentage of 

 sugar in the beets was. in 1896, 13.9 per 

 cent. The average percentage from 1891 

 to 1897, inclusive, was 12.4 per cent. The 

 average percentage of sugar extracted, 

 1891 to 1897 inclusive, was 8.46. Land 

 rentals range from $7.50 to $15.00. The 

 soil shows a great diversity about Lehi, 

 but is generally a heavier soil than the up- 

 lands of northern Colorado. 



The Eddy. New Mexico, sugar beet fac - 

 tory has been run for two seasons only, 



1896 and 1897. The valley, though a nat- 

 ural fruit garden, lacks the farming popu- 

 lation, and perhaps, too, the close, careful 

 cultivation and knowledge of irrigation of 

 the other farm districts of Colorado. In 



1897 they grew 1,900 acres of beets; yield, 

 three tons per acre: percentage of sugar, 

 14.2; purity, 80 per cent; percentage of 

 sugar extracted from the beets, 10.53. 



The average cost of growing and deliver- 

 ing a crop of beets at Norfolk, Nebraska, 

 is $26.50 per acre; the average profit 

 $11.04. The yields range from five to fif- 



