GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 6 
Field practice and related costs are controlled by several factors, 
some of the more important of which are: (1) season or climatic 
conditions; (2) soil type; (3) manurial practice; (4) methods of pre- 
paring the seed bed; (5) intertillage of the crop; (6) irrigation; (7) 
distance from market; (8) the efficiency of man and horse labor; 
and (9) crop yield. 
By comparing the methods of field treatment in the Arkansas 
Valley with the methods that prevail in the Greeley area, it is found 
that in Otero County it is a common practice to irrigate land imme- 
diately after planting, while in Weld County the rainfall is usually 
sufficient to germinate the seed promptly, so that early spring 
irrigation is omitted. Season or climatic conditions in this particular 
case impose additional work upon the operator who is producing 
beets in the Arkansas Valley. Again, the soil type influences the 
amount of work required to bring the land into first-class condition 
for seeding. A heavy clay soil is much more difficult to handle than 
a type like the Colorado sandy loam, and additional field work means 
an increased cost. The same feature may be illustrated in methods 
of fertilizing the soil, or in the preparation of the seed bed, or in the 
cultivation of the crop. Investigations in other areas have empha- 
sized the fact that the crop yields have a very important bearing 
upon cost. 
Thus it will be seen that there is necessarily considerable variation 
in the practice of growing sugar beets, and this, in turn, enters into 
cost of production. A figure that may be applied to a given farm in 
a typical beet area may not be applicable to the adjoining farm. 
Likewise, a district average may be higher or lower than the cost of 
growing this crop in an adjacent district or in a bordering State. It 
is certain that a cost figure can not be used which will answer for the 
country as a whole. The best that can be accomplished in making 
these calculations will be found in a discussion of figures that can be 
used in a relative way. Having full information concerning the 
practice under which these coats were ascertained, the grower will 
be able to see wherein his methods coincide and wherein they differ 
from the record which has been compiled. By weighing each opera- 
tion carefully, it will be possible for him to reach an estimate which 
should cover the requirements of his farm. 
SUMMARY. 
1. A review of the farm practice outlined in this study shows that 
the acre costs for all tillage operations for sugar beets performed by 
the operators, with the exception of plowing, rolling beets, irrigating, 
hoeing, and topping, were lower for the farms studied in the Greeley 
and Fort Morgan areas than for those at Rocky Ford. This was 
