50 The Sugar-Beet in America 



on the kind of roads and on how busy the farmer is with 

 other work at the time beets are to be hauled. 



The whole beet-sugar industry is closely tied up with 

 the question of transportation. Each prospective sugar- 

 beet area must be considered from this viewpoint as well 

 as from its adaptability to the raising of beets. 



Special troubles. 



A number of special troubles must be kept in mind in 

 considering conditions for beet-raising. Among these are 

 diseases and insect pests. A number of factories have 

 failed because beets in the district have been so greatly 

 infested by curly-leaf and other serious troubles. For 

 this reason it would not be advisable to invest hun- 

 dreds of thousands of dollars in a mill where external con- 

 ditions only seemed to be favorable to the industry. It 

 is much safer to raise beets for a number of years first 

 in order to see whether any of these serious troubles de- 

 velop. Hot winds, severe drought at a critical period, 

 and many other unfavorable conditions may completely 

 outweigh other favorable ones. 



Kind of farmers. 



Successful sugar-beet growing requires good farmers. 

 Every operation from the plowing of the land to the de- 

 livery of the beets is particular and calls for skill and 

 painstaking care. There is no operation that can be 

 slighted without reflecting itself in the returns. Many 

 farmers fail because they are not willing to look after 

 details. They want to apply wheat-growing methods, 

 and these methods simply will not succeed with sugar- 



