GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN MICHIGAN AND OHIO. 33 
times; the disking was done twice on a few farms, and in other cases 
but once; there were a few cases in which the disk was not used at 
all. Floating was practiced quite generally, but was not common to 
all farms. The spring-tooth harrow was used much more extensively 
than the spike-tooth in the preparation of the seed bed. 
Rolling was done on some farms both before and after planting. 
A few men rolled prior to planting the seed and did not repeat the 
operation after the beets were up. On other farms this work was 
confined solely to “ rolling beets.” 
The 10 Caro growers did not replant any seed, but in some of the 
other districts a fractional part of the acreage had to be reseeded. 
The number of cultivations varied from three to five in the Caro 
district. Only one operator in this group performed the handwork 
with the regular farm labor; the remaining growers contracted the 
blocking, thinning, hoeing, and topping. 
COST OF PRODUCING SUGAR BEETS. 
The cost of the various items of expense has advanced appreciably 
since 1915, and likewise the receipts have increased considerably. 
However, by substituting prevailing costs for the items of man labor, 
horse labor, pounds of seed, etc., the cost of producing sugar beets 
under present conditions can be closely approximated. 
By a study of the data presented it is hoped that the beet grower 
will be able not only to measure his own beet enterprise, but also to 
judge the relative importance of each item that enters into the cost 
of producing sugar beets. 
To find the cost of producing an acre of sugar beets in a given 
region the total cost of production was divided by the total beet acre- 
age. Similarly the cost of producing a ton of sugar beets was found 
by dividing the total cost of production by the total number of tons 
of beets produced. All items of cost are computed on this basis. 
The final figures give the average cost of producing an acre or a ton 
of sugar beets on 2,018 acres of beets at Caro, Mich., 230 acres in the 
Grand Rapids, Mich., district, 506 acres at Alma, and 1,525 acres 
in northwestern Ohio, or a total acreage of 4,279 for all districts. 
LABOR COSTS. 
The labor required in producing sugar beets can be divided into 
three classes, man, horse, and contract. The last item consists mainly 
of man labor and is paid at a certain rate per acre or per ton. How- 
ever, in a few cases where plowing or hauling was hired by the acre 
or by the ton, this item is classified under contract labor. The sum 
of the three items of labor gave the total labor cost for the four 
areas. Table XXI shows the labor cost of producing sugar beets 
in three areas in Michigan and one in northwestern Ohio. 
