THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



345 



$4.50 per ton being paid for Scotts Bluff beets. The Great 

 Western Sugar company has made a proposition to the people 

 of Scotts Bluff to build a factory near that town in time to 

 take care of the 1910 crop. The propostion has been accepted, 

 and the contracts for 15,000 acres of beets are being signed 

 up rapidly. Such an acreage means one of the largest factories 

 in the world, capable of handling not less than 1,500 tons of 

 beets every twenty-four hours. 



In a prophetic moment Henry T. Oxnard recently stated 

 in an interview at Washington that in ten years there would 



be ten sugar factories in that vailed pro- 



vided, of course, Congress handled the tariff 

 in a manner satisfactory to the sugar kings. 

 Such a statement from such a soudce has 

 considerable weight, but it is far beyond the 

 dreams of the people of the valley, who have 

 thought several factories would be built, 

 possible one in each of the lively little towns 

 of Scotts Bluff, Minatare, Bayard, Mitchell 

 and Morrill. If such a condition prevails 

 it means great things for that valley. One 

 need not be either a prophet nor the son of 

 a prophet to predict great and immediate 

 growth for the towns of the valley. Greeley 

 had a population of 3,023 in 1900; it now 

 has 10,000. Fort Collins had 3,053 in 1900; 

 it has almost 12,000 now. Longmont had 

 2,201 in 1900; it has over 5,00 now. Love- 

 land had 1,091 in 1900; it has nearly 6,000 

 now. Fort Morgan was a village of 634 in 

 1900; it has nearly 5,000 now. Sterling was 

 a village of less than 1,000 in 1900, and has 



nearly 4,000 now. Any of the Colorado towns with a sugar 

 factory has quadrupled its population. Why? Not be- 

 qause of the factory, but because of the irrigated lands 

 adjacent. The lands, not industries, are making the towns. 

 This great valley is easily capable of sustaining a popu- 

 lation of at least a million people. It will have them, 

 and the children now playing on the village streets will 

 live to see them thriving cities, the centers of bustling 

 activities. 



Cabbage Grows to Perfection in the Scotts Bluff Country. 



Beet Dumps at Frequent Points Take the Product from the Farm to the Factory. 



