GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN UTAH AND IDAHO. 33 



Table XXI. — Topping practice. 



District. 



Year. 



Number 

 of farm 

 records. 



Acres 

 topped 

 per farm. 



Tons 

 per acre. 



Man 



hours 



per acre. 



Cost 

 per acre. 



Cost 

 per ton. 





1914-15 



1914-15 



1915 



29 

 37 

 11 



15.34 

 14.10 

 14.10 



14.74 

 14.82 

 10.9 



23.48 

 28.61 

 27.92 



$4.70 

 5.44 

 5.58 



Cents. 

 31.9 





36.7 



Idaho Falls . ... 



51.2 







The estimated cost of puUiiig and topping at Garland was 31.9 

 cents per ton, as compared with 65 cents per ton on a contract basis. 

 The average estimated cost per ton at Provo was 36.7 cents per ton, 

 the usual contract price paid for the same work being 60 cents. 

 Idaho Falls growers estimates were 51.2 cents per ton, as compared 

 with a contract rate of 83.3 cents, where the yield was 12 tons per acre. 



The harvest season begins late in September and frequently ex- 

 tends well into the month of November. As the harvest season ap- 

 proaches, the field men gather samples of beets from the different 

 fields. Laboratory tests on these beets indicate the sugar content 

 and the coefficient of purity and determine when the beets are 

 ready to pull. The 1-row lifter was used uniformly in these three 

 districts. The lifting is done at the same time as the hauling. On 

 many farms the operator does this work during the early part of the 

 day, enough beets being loosened to keep the toppers busy for the 

 remainder of the day. When not employed at this task the lifting 

 crew hauls beets to the loading station. On the larger farms it is 

 customary to keep one crew busy lifting. (See Table XXII.) 



Table XXII. — Lifting practice. _ 



District. 



Year. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farm 

 records. 



Acres 



Ufted 



per 



farm. 



Average crew. 



Hours per acre. 



Total 

 cost 



Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



per 

 acre. 



Garland ... 



1914^15 



1914-15 



1915 



69 

 56 

 35 



17.99 

 14.52 

 19.20 



1 



1 

 1 



3.04 

 2.48 

 2.90 



4.71 

 5.98 

 4.66 



14.31 

 14.69 

 13.48 



$2 23 





2.61 



Idaho Falls 



2 28 







In the Garland district there were 58 reports, based upon crews 

 containing 1 man and 3 horses. Idaho FaUs growers on 32 farms 

 used similar crews. At Provo the estimates were about equally 

 divided between 1-man and 2-horse and 1-man and 3-horse crews, 

 there being 29 of the former and 27 of the latter. The cost per acre 

 was 37 cents greater at Provo than at Garland. For these districts 

 a day's work varied from 1.67 to slightly more than 2 acres. 



