GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN UTAH AND IDAHO. 33 
Table XXI. — Topping practice. 
District. 
Year. 
Number 
of farm 
records. 
Acres 
topped 
per farm. 
Tons 
per acre. 
Man 
hours 
per acre. 
Cost 
per acre. 
Cost 
per ton. 
1914-15 
1914-15 
1915 
29 
37 
11 
15.34 
14.10 
14.10 
14.74 
14.82 
10.9 
23.48 
28.61 
27.92 
$4.70 
5.44 
5.58 
Cents. 
31.9 
36.7 
Idaho Falls 
51.2 
The estimated cost of pulling and topping at Garland was 31.9 
cents per ton, as compared with 65 cents per ton on a contract basis. 
The average estimated cost per ton at Provo was 36.7 cents per ton, 
the usual contract price paid for the same work being 60 cents. 
Idaho Falls growers estimates were 51.2 cents per ton, as compared 
with a contract rate of 83.3 cents, where the yield was 12 tons per acre. 
LIFTING. 
The harvest season begins late in September and frequently ex- 
tends well into the month of November. As the harvest season ap- 
proaches, the field men gather samples of beets from the different 
fields. Laboratory tests on these beets indicate the sugar content 
and the coefficient of purity and determine when the beets are 
ready to pull. The 1-row lifter was used uniformly in these three 
districts. The lifting is done at the same time as the hauling. On 
many farms the operator does this work during the early part of the 
day, enough beets being loosened to keep the toppers busy for the 
remainder of the day. When not employed at this task the lifting 
crew hauls beets to the loading station. On the larger farms it is 
customary to keep one crew busy lifting. (See Table XXII.) 
Table XXII. — Lifting practice. 
District. 
Year. 
Num- 
ber of 
farm 
records. 
Acres 
lifted 
per 
farm. 
Average crew. 
Hours per acre. 
Total 
cost 
Man. 
Horse. 
Man. 
Horse. 
per 
acre. 
1914-15 
1914-15 
1915 
69 
56 
35 
17.99 
14.52 
19.20 
1 
1 
3.04 
2.48 
2.90 
4.71 
5.98 
4.66 
14.31 
14.69 
13.48 
$2.23 
Provo 
2.61 
Idaho Falls 
2.28 
In the Garland district there were 58 reports, based upon crews 
containing 1 man and 3 horses. Idaho Falls growers on 32 farms 
used similar crews. At Provo the estimates were about equally 
divided between 1-man and 2-horse and 1-man and 3-horse crews, 
there being 29 of the former and 27 of the latter. The cost per acre 
was 37 cents greater at Provo than at Garland. For these districts 
a day's work varied from 1.67 to slightly more than 2 acres. 
