GROWING? SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 



47 



18.6. The Fort Morgan operators applied manure at the rate of 14.3 

 tons per acre. 



Spray material. — Relatively few farms expended any money for 

 the purchase of materials to use in destroying insects or to apply for 

 the purpose of controlling plant diseases. Grasshopper poison was 

 put out by 10 operators in Otero County, by 4 in Weld County, and 

 by 5 in Morgan County. This item of cost, though exceedingly small, 

 must not be ignored entirely, as each grower may at some time in 

 his experience be called upon to do this kind of work. It frequently 

 happens that a little money expended for poison insures a much 

 better yield. 



Irrigation water. — The annual charge for water did not differ greatly 

 in the three districts under observation. The average for all districts 

 was slightly more than 50 cents per acre. Several irrigation com- 

 panies operate in each area, and some growers obtain water from two 

 or more sources. This feature was given careful consideration, and 

 an attempt was made to compute a fair charge for the annual use of 

 water. Some of the original ditches have comparatively low water 

 rates on account of early priorities. While there may be wide varia- 

 tion in the annual water assessment paid by individual growers who 

 are receiving their supplies from different sources there is uniformity 

 in the farms served by a given canal and the average charges for each 

 district are also quite uniform. 



OTHER COSTS. 



There are certain expenses that must be carried by the farm as a 

 whole, of which each enterprise must bear a just proportion. The 

 solution of this problem in connection with a single enterprise in- 

 volves a careful study of the entire business of the farm. Having 

 obtained a true perspective of the relationships that exist between 

 the various branches of the business, it was possible to distribute such 

 costs as insurance and taxes, interest on land and land rental, ma- 

 chinery charges, and overhead expense on an equitable basis (Table 

 XXVI). 



Table XXVI. — Other costs for three Colorado districts. 





Year. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farm 

 records. 



Total 



acres in 



beets. 



Cost per acre. 



Cost 

 per 

 ton. 



District. 



Insurance 



and 

 . taxes. 



Interest 

 and 

 rent. 



Machin- 

 ery. 



Miscella- 

 neous. 



Total. 





1914-15 



1915 

 1914-15 



195 

 66 

 106 



5,028.40 

 2, 455. 50 

 2, 428. 95 



SO. 85 

 1.05 



.74 



S21.21 

 16.65 

 16.87 



£2.06 

 2.85 

 2.00 



$1. 41 

 1.29 

 1.32 



$25. 53 

 21.84 

 20.93 



SI. 63 



Fort Morgan 



Roclcy Ford 



1.60 

 1.61 



