BULLETIN 726, U. S. DEPARTMENT' OF AGRICULTURE. 
During the years 1916-17, labor costs advanced appreciably in this 
region, and there was a corresponding increase in the cost of materials 
used in growing the sugar beet. This upward trend was also re- 
flected in some of the other costs considered in this bulletin. In 
view of these changes, since the dollar is a fluctuating measure, special 
attention has been given in this study to values that are known to be 
much more stable than money values. The hours of man and horse 
labor do not vary greatly from year to year; the quantity of seed 
used remains about the same; the application of manure or fertilizer 
is not likely to increase or decrease perceptibly under a given type of 
WELD 
LOGAN 
® 
STERLING. 
LAS ANIMAS BACA 
PROW. 
® Location of factories operating IB /4--/S © Location of factories idle. Z9/4-/5 
9 Location of factories operating 13 is • Location of factory dismanf/ed 1915 
E553 Location of area studied. 
Fig. 1. — Map showing the threo districts included in this survey, and location of the sugar factories of 
Colorado. 
farming, and the quantity of other necessary supplies used will un- 
doubtedly remain fairly constant, though the cost in money may 
not. Throughout this bulletin the emphasis has been placed upon 
these items, and money costs are referred to only incidentally. 1 
1 Farm practice studies were begun in the sugar-beet sections of Colorado during the summer of 1910. 
Prior to this date reports had been received from several areas to the effect that difficulties were being met 
in securing satisfactoiy yields, and requests for assistance were brought to i he attention of the Secretary 
of Agriculture. The problems under consideration involved not only the production of sugar beets but 
were also related to other important enterprises on these farms. It was felt, therefore, that a review of the 
practices on several of the successful as well as a similar number of the less remunerative farms in these 
areas would develop suggestions that might be helpful in this connection. This project was expanded in 
1915 and arrangements were made to secure detailed records on the various items of cost that enter into 
the production of sugar beets. In order to get these data, it was necessary to make a careful analysis of the 
cultural treatment followed by individual growers in the three areas. While the primary object was to 
obtain cost figures, the development of the investigation has been such that it has been impossible to treat 
of costs without laying emphasis upon farm practice. 
