330 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



forth that the sugar supply could be secured from the beet. Every 

 intelligent farmer asked himself the question, "Why should I not 

 produce sugar beets?" 



The physical and biological sciences were at once brought to bear 

 upon this problem to ascertain the soil and climatic conditions which 

 are best suited to the growth of the sugar beet. Geology, mete- 

 orology, physics, chemistry, entomology, plant physiology, plant 

 breeding, bacteriology, etc., made their contribution to the farmer's 

 knowledge of the regions in which beets thrive, the varieties of beets 

 containing the highest percentage of sugar, the methods of cultivation 

 which will best adjust the soil to plant growth, the methods of pro- 

 tecting the plant from vegetable and animal parasites, etc. Tables 

 were published showing the percentage of sugar found hi the beets 

 from different seeds on the same soil, and from the same kinds of seeds 

 on different soils and under different climatic conditions. Maps were 

 made showing the regions where the climate was suitable for sugar 

 beet culture. Soils were surveyed with a view to finding the land 

 best suited to the sugar beet. 



With this knowledge, which appeared all-sufficient to the minds 

 of many experiment station men, beet culture was advocated without 

 asking the question, "Where is the beet sugar industry likely to prove 

 profitable?" 



The profitable introduction of the sugar beet in any given locality 

 where soil and climate are suitable depends upon the relative profit- 

 ableness of this crop when compared with other crops occupying the 

 same place in the rotation and requiring the attention of the farmer 

 at the same time of year. For example, in the sugar beet regions of 

 Germany, Indian corn does not thrive, and in the absence of competing 

 crops which are very profitable, beets stand a better chance (other 

 things being the same) than in the corn belt of the United States, 

 where corn is a very profitable competitor of beets. In those parts of 

 Germany where the beet sugar industry prospers, beets have only to 

 prove as profitable as potatoes, root crops grown for fodder, or a bare 

 fallow, in order to find a profitable place in the field system, whereas 

 in the corn belt of the United States beets must prove as profitable as 

 corn or give place to it. 



The relative profitableness of corn and sugar beets can be ascer- 

 tained by a system of records which will show all the elements of costs 

 and receipts of the two crops and their influence upon the profitable- 

 ness of the other enterprises of the farm. In the consideration of the 



