2 The Sugar-Beet in America 
The key to successful beet-sugar manufacturing is a 
supply of good beets at a reasonable price. The actual 
making of sugar can be conducted about as well in one 
place as in another if the beets are available. The growth 
of the industry, therefore, depends on an extension of the 
beet-producing area and on perfecting the methods of 
growing beets in sections where they are now produced. 
Those persons familiar with the conditions necessary 
to beet production, and those acquainted with American 
geography, are convinced that only a small part of the 
land well adapted to beets is at present planted to the 
crop. Figure 1, which shows the relative number of 
sugar factories in Europe and in the United States, in- 
dicates that in America the area devoted to beets may 
be increased many times before it will reach the limits 
that have been found profitable in Europe. Reference to 
Chapter IV, wherein the conditions for raising beets are 
considered in detail, will show that many parts of the 
United States are well adapted to the production of sugar- 
beets. Now that the industry is well started, it seems 
probable that it will grow rapidly in the next few years. 
This growth will be fortunate for American agriculture, 
which needs stimulation of more intensive methods. Ex- 
perience has shown that wherever a beet-sugar factory 
has been established in a community, the price of all 
farming land has risen. This has resulted not alone 
because beets themselves make a profitable crop, but 
because raising them promotes better farming and con- 
sequently a higher return to each acre of land. The deep 
plowing and the thorough tillage, so indispensable to beet- 
culture, increase the yield of subsequent crops on the same 
