46 The Sugar-Beet in America 
for wheat, oats, and barley, and about one and one-half 
times as much as for potatoes. If only four to eight 
acres of beets are raised, the amount hardly justifies 
bringing in expert contract labor; but if the farmer at- 
tempts to do all the work himself, other crops are greatly 
interfered with. If he has children of his own or if he can 
hire school children, he may be able to get along. From 
fifteen to twenty-five acres are necessary in order to make 
it pay to take advantage of contract labor for thinning 
and harvesting. 
New growers should not attempt to raise too many 
acres of beets, since they are not familiar with the re- 
quirements of the crop and great waste may result from 
their inability to do work at the proper time. After a 
few years of beet-raising, the farmer learns to adjust the 
acreage to the labor he can command during the busy 
season. On the small irrigated farms in the thickly 
settled regions, the labor question is not so acute as in 
the newer regions that have small population. A survey 
in Utah showed that as the size of farm decreased, the 
percentage of the land raising beets increased. 
Where beets are raised on a large scale, the labor prob- 
lem is solved by hiring foreigners to do the hand work. 
Some of these are permanent farm hands; others may 
have had experience working in beet fields in their native 
land but are doing city work in this country. This class 
of labor may be induced to go to the farms for a few 
months during the busy part of the beet season. The 
most satisfactory way when possible is to keep the hands 
on the farm throughout the year, having other means of 
employment when they are not needed in the beet fields. 
