Mr. Pickett. 
Mr. McMath. 
430 DISCUSSION : FORESTS, RESERVOIRS, AND STREAM FLOW 
with Northern Wyoming, a sugar beet factory, with all modern im- 
provements, has recently been finished at a cost of $1000 000. The 
superintendent stated that the factory was in operation and had just 
commenced receiving the present season’s crop of sugar beets. He 
also stated that his company was paying from $4.50 to $5 per ton for 
the beets delivered at the nearest railway station, the price being 
regulated by the haul. He also stated that 15 tons per acre was about 
the average yield and that the cost per acre to ranchmen was about $30, 
making a profit of from $37.50 to $45 per acre to.the ranchmen. 
As the yield and profit per acre appeared to be very liberal, the 
writer obtained information from ranchmen and others who corrobo- 
rated the figures given above; and the writer is informed that the best 
lands in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, or Ten- 
nessee cannot make as good an exhibit. 
There is every prospect that there will always be a good price 
for the sugar beet. The United States is now importing from 
2500 000 to 3000000 tons of sugar annually. The railway system of 
the West is gradually extending, so that in a few years every agri- 
cultural neighborhood will be reached. 
All land under irrigation in Wyoming or Montana below an eleva- 
tion of 6500 ft. will bring forth a large yield of the beet. With the 
extension of the railway system, sugar beet factories will follow as 
soon as the length of haul becomes excessive, and it is certain that the 
railways will encourage the industry by proper rates, for they will have 
the advantage of handling the product twice. 
The yield per acre mentioned above is not excessive. Without special 
pains, ordinary potatoes have been raised at the rate of 16 tons per acre, 
and this yield is not uncommon. <A few years ago an agricultural 
paper offered a prize for the largest yield of ordinary potatoes; the prize 
was won by a ranchman of Sheridan County, Wyoming, with 940 
bushels or 28 tons per acre. An experienced cattleman, instead of 
selling the sugar beet, considered it more profitable to feed them to 
his beef cattle. 
These same lands will produce from 1 ton per acre at altitudes of 
6000 ft. to 5 tons at lower altitudes where three cuttings can be had 
during the season. Alfalfa brings from $5 to $8 per ton. 
These statistics are authentic, and are repeated to indicate that 
the Government can make no mistake in expending liberally for 
storing up all the surplus water from the Missouri River water-shed 
that goes to waste during the irrigating season. 
Rosert E. McMatu, M. Am. Soc. O. E. (by letter).—The author, 
by the title of his paper, has invited his readers to make an excursion 
into a boundless forest, in which many trails lead in many directions. 
He, in a measure, sets out to open and improve one trail, and very 
wisely suggests that members of the Society give “The results of their 
