32" 



BULLETIN 735, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



obtained in a manner which should include the correct total cost of 

 machinery for beets during the season of 1915. 



Table X. — Cost of machinery for growing sugar beets in the Billings region 



in 1915. 



Items of cost. 



Total. 



Per farm. 



Per acre. 



Per ton 

 of beets. 



Percent- 



Repairs 



Depreciation 



Interest on investment at 8 per cent . 

 Hired machinery 



$5,671 



10, 3S3 



6,678 



637 



$18. 59 



34.08 



21.89 



2.09 



50.64 



1.17 



.76 



.07 



Total cost 23, 379 



76.65 



2.64 



.25 



24.2 



44.3 



28.8 



2.7 



100.0 



PRORATING INTEREST ON THE INVESTMENT. 



Detailed information covering the cash investment in 305 farms 

 on which 8,849 acres of sugar beets were grown showed an average 

 of $3,656 per farm, and the prorated interest cost chargeable to 

 the beet crop was $11.99, being an average of 41 cents per acre 

 planted to beets and 4 cents for each ton of beets produced. 



The average man pays about 41 cents per acre for interest on 

 money invested in the beet crop. This is only for money spent 

 for labor and miscellaneous items of cost, the greater part being 

 for money paid to contract laborers or hired labor. Contract la- 

 borers receive about half of their contract price at a time soon after 

 the blocking and thinning is done. For this region this averages 

 about $9 per acre, and in most instances it is paid some time in 

 June or July, although in some cases it is advanced to the laborer 

 earlier in the season. No money is received from the beet crop until 

 October or November, so the interest on money paid for hand labor 

 runs for four to six months. 



Interest on contract-labor money for four to six months at 8 per 

 cent for $9 is 24 cents to 36 cents per acre, depending on the time 

 the contractor receives the money. Interest on money paid to the 

 farm laborers for one to eight months, depending on the number 

 of laborers hired, varies on different farms from nothing to 60 cents 

 per acre of beets grown. 



COST OF LAND FOR SUGAR BEETS. 



The owner's cost for land is divided between interest, irrigation 

 water, and other items that are furnished by landlords on rented 

 farms. These items aggregate $11.99 per acre, divided as follows: 

 Interest on real estate, $9.86; land taxes, $1.15; cost of water for 

 irrigation, 86 cents; miscellaneous charges, 12 cents. (Table XL) 



