GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN THE BILLINGS REGION. 



11 



Table IV. — Returns to growers using no manure compared with returns to those 

 manuring 15 per cent or mare of their sugar-beet area in the Billings region. 





Number of 

 farms. 



Beet crop. 





Crop treatment. 



Area. 



Per acre. 



Returns 



for 

 manure 





Yield. 



Value of 

 the net 

 increase. 



less the 

 labor cost. 





55 



74 



Acres. 

 '1,444 

 1,908 



Tons. 

 12.38 

 9.87 



$16. 10 



$12. 79 













Manure worth $3.79 was put on each acre manured. The cost of its 

 application was $3.31, as it required 8.9 hours of man labor and 15.3 

 hours of horse labor. 



Growers to the number of 233, or 75.7 per cent of the total, manured 

 part of their beet land. They manured 3,250 acres, or 36.7 per cent 

 of the total beet acreage, at some time in the 3-year period prior to 

 the time of planting the 1915 beet crop. As already stated, the 

 writers have assumed that manure is beneficial to the crop for at 

 least three years succeeding its application. 



The data showed that in this region the average established owner 

 manured more land than the average tenant, because the tenants were 

 unable to get long leases on the land. The difference in this respect 

 was 17.2 per cent of the area planted to sugar beets. The data also 

 showed that the owners made slightly heavier applications of manure 

 to the land manured. In fact, most of the land manured on ten- 

 ant holdings was on those farms where the landlord had encour- 

 aged the feeding of stock on the land by feeding all the hay which 

 he received for rental. Some landlords were taking an interest in 

 their farms and feeding their hay on the land, and some of the ten- 

 ants were feeding with the landlord under agreements whereby the 

 landlord advanced the money to finance the buying of feeding stock, 

 and the tenant performed the labor of feeding, thus effecting an ex- 

 change of labor for the use of capital. 



PLOWING PRACTICE. 



The entire area planted to sugar beets was plowed during the 

 preparation of the seed bed. This work was done at an average cost 

 of $2.54 per acre, or an expenditure of 4.59 hours of man labor and 

 16.18 hours of horse labor. This does not include any labor of crown- 

 ing alfalfa sod where such lands were crowned before they were 

 plowed. 



Almost all the plowing done in this region is done in the spring, 

 as growers do not have time to harvest their beets and do much fall 



