THE BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



$2 per ton delivered at the factory, up to a figure where it becomes unprofitable to 

 raise them even at $5 per ton. The average cost to farmers probably ranges from 

 $2.50 to $3.50, with an average yield of from 10 to 12 tons. These figures do not 

 include rent, fertilizers, or profit. The first two large areas of beets raised under 

 my own charge cost $3.60 and $3.80 per ton, respectively (actual book accounts), the 

 first being a year of very high cost and the second a drouth year of decreased yield." 

 Mr Allen submits detailed statements of these (1893-4) crops as printed below, but 

 we understand his 1896 crop was grown at very much less expense. 



Number of fields grown, 



Number of acres grown, 



Lowest yield per acre, 



Highest " " " 



Average " " " 



Net delivered at factory, 



Gross tonnage, 



Net tonnage shipped, 



Shrinkage, 



Total cars shipped, 



Average sugar content, 



Highest " " 



Average purity, 



Highest " 



Iii Utah, the average cost of cultivating, harvesting and delivering a crop of 12 

 tons of beets per acre to the factory, not to exceed four miles distant, is from $28 to 

 $35, and at $4 per ton this leaves a net income of $13 to $20 per acre, besides the $28 

 or $35 worth of labor furnished by the farmer and his fami ] y and teams, for which he 

 gets paid in cash. Going into more detail, the Utah Sugar company says that, if 

 everything is hired or if the labor is charged for at the price it would cost to hire it, 

 the expense of cultivating beets in Utah would be about as follows: "Preparing soil 

 foi seed, $3.50 per acre; that is, plowing, harrowing, leveling, rolling and the neces- 

 sary work to make a proper seed bed. Twenty pounds of seed per acre will cost $3, 

 and planting with the seed drill 50c per acre. Thinning costs about $5 per acre, but 

 this item will be less after a few years' experience. The second hoeing is as neces- 

 sary as the thinning, and costs $2 per acre. We irrigate two to five times, as the case 

 maybe, averaging three times; at 40c per acre for each irrigation, this would cost 

 $1.20, though it may cost more the first season. We cultivate six times, three before 

 irrigation and three after, at a total cost of $14.40. Plowing out the beets in the fall 

 will cost $1 per acre. We pay 50c per ton for pulling and topping the beets, which, 

 for an average yield of 12 tons, is $6 per acre. This makes a total expense of $30.60, 

 exclusive of use of land and manures, paying highest market prices for all labor." 



One of the most extraordinary financial statements ever made by an American 

 beet grower is that submitted by James Bardin, of Monterey Co, Gal. IH 1892 he 

 shipped 0082 tons of beets to the Watsonville factory from 225 acres of land, making 

 the phenomenal average of 27 tons of dressed beets per acre. The cost of seed and 

 planting averaged $5.12 per acre, harvesting $7.45 per acre, cultivating and weeding 



