UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 748 
Office of the Secretary 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
E. H. THOMSON, Acting Chief 
and 
Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER January 28, 1919 
FARM PRACTICE IN GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN 
MICHIGAN AND OHIO. 
By R. S. WAsHBURN, Scientific Assistant, L. A. MoorHousE, Agriculturist, and 
T. H. Summers, Scientific Assistant, Office of Farm Management, and C. O. 
TowNnsEND, Pathologist in Charge, Sugar-Plant Investigations, Bureau of 
Plant Industry. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. Page. 
Summiarnysot resulltssseesee ssoce eee ss eee = 3 | Cost of producing sugar beets..-......--.-.- 33 
Method of taking records...........----.---- 4 | Sugar-beet returns -versus cost.........-.---- 39 
Development of sugar-beet industry in Michi- Relation of yield to cost of production....... 40 
pin Biol ONO SA ee yea Na aero ee ones Hl WADE OHIO LON o oo dcuecuaqusededaucemsudac - 41 
SIZ COUT ATIINS ape ee stent eh ars ci LAL aN ease A 6 | Relation of beet acreage to tillable area...._.. 42 
TRITON sos oe a 5 Sareea eee ee ee see ane 6 | Beet acreage per farm and yield per acre in 
SOUS Se oS ata ae 2 ata Sere ea ae 7 ROBO HO) CORN. coaaccacooondoeacaossdsnacae 43 
Cropmotatlone is sa. eee cece ee ee 8 | Comparison of beet receipts with other farm 
Mamvandtinorse laborsae 2224. sc. 46225252: 10 FOCCIPES Seed eee | Soe ee em era eee 44 
Farm practices in growing sugar beets-..-.... OPP abor requirements sees esse ete e eet eeeee 45 
This study was made in order to ascertain the field practices that 
are employed in the production of sugar beets under typical humid 
conditions and to determine the relationship of these operations to 
the cost of growing this crop. 
The data presented are based upon 320 farm records obtained 
from operators in. Michigan and Ohio. The farmers who reported 
on their methods of producing sugar beets lived in the vicinity of 
Caro, Alma, and Grand Rapids, Mich., and in northwestern Ohio 
(fig. 1). The records discussed outline the work and show the 
returns for these farms during the crop seasons 1914 and 1915. The 
labor rates that prevailed throughout this period were not nearly 
so high as those for 1916 and 1917, which were greatly advanced by 
war conditions. 
Notrrt.—This is the third of a series of bulletins published by the Department of Agri- 
culture giving the results of an investigation relative to the practice and cost of growing 
sugar beets in four of the most important areas in the United States. One of these 
bulletins gave the results obtained from a study of this enterprise in Utah and Idaho. 
Ancther contained a review of records that were taken in three Colorado districts. <A 
subsequent publication will discuss the practice and distribution of costs in connection 
with the production of beets in three California regions. 
83548°—19—Bull. 748 1 
