4 BULLETIN 735, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



from 4 to 10 miles in width. The greater part of this area is irrigated 

 from "waters diverted from the Clarks Fork River and numerous 

 smaller streams that have their origin in the mountains near by. 



Soil conditions in this valle}' are very similar to those in the adja- 

 cent Yellowstone Valley, with the exception that the soils are per- 

 ls aps a little less heavy and more easy to till. 



The altitude of this valley is somewhat higher than that of the 

 Yellowstone, making a shorter growing season and increasing a little 

 the liabilty to frosts. Sugar beets are grown toward the lower end 

 of the valley. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUGAR-BEET INDUSTRY IN THE 

 BILLINGS REGION. 



The sugar-beet industry has developed rather rapidly in the Bil- 

 lings region of Montana. The factory at Billings has been in opera- 

 tion since 1906. Before that time sugar beets were grown in the 

 region only experimentally, to determine the advisability of estab- 

 lishing a sugar factory. Previous to the introduction of the sugar- 

 beet industry the region was mainly devoted to cattle raising and 

 grain growing. The acreage of irrigated land and consequently the 

 acreage of tillable crops has been increasing in this region for a 

 number of years. Table I illustrates the increase in the acreage of 

 sugar beets grown in this region and gives the average yields per 

 acre for a period of 10 years. 



Table I. 



-Acreage and yields of sugar beets in the Billings region for the 

 10-year period from- 1906 to 1915, inclusive. 



1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 



Total 



Yield 



area. 



per acre. 



Acres. 



Tons. 



6,184 



9.47 



8,898 



10.75 



9,457 



12.22 



10,365 



10.71 



10, 251 



11.76 



15, 694 



11.56 



Year. 



1912 



1913 



1914 



1915 



Average 



Total 

 area. 



A cres. 

 19,017 

 22,887 

 18, 707 

 22, 233 



14,369 



Yield 



per acre. 



Tom. 

 10.11 

 10.21 

 10.91 

 9.76 



10. 



IRRIGATED AREA IN BEETS IN 1915. 



Many farms have tillable land that is not irrigated and therefore 

 not suitable for the growing of sugar beets. The computations in 

 Table II are based on the irrigated lands per farm, exclusive of irri- 

 gated permanent pastures, as such pastures are often seeped lands or 

 otherwise not suitable for growing sugar beets. Irrigated pasture 

 lands which are in the rotation are included in the tabulation. 



The fact that the acreage of beets grown by owners is less than that 

 grown by tenants is not due so much to the size of the farms or to the 



