COST OF PRODUCING SUGAR BEETS IN UTAH AND IDAHO. 25 
man and two horses. Such operations as plowing, harrowing, and 
leveling may involve several crew sizes. In computing averages for 
these different groups, fractions appear in the horse column. The 
prevalence of certain crew sizes always exerts considerable influence 
upon the average which is obtained. In these tables the most com- 
mon crew sizes found in each district, as well as the average sizes, 
are shown. (Tables XXI to XXIV.) 
PREPARATORY WORK. 
The preparation of the seed bed for any crop grown under irriga- 
tion frequently calls for special work to insure a uniform distribution 
of water when the proper season arrives. An uneven surface inter- 
Fig. 6.—Scraping land with a riding fresno. 
feres with the run of water and prevents a portion of the field from 
receiving the amount which is required by the crop to produce the 
usual yield. It is the custom in all of these districts to level the 
cultivated area with a scraper of one type or another. Ordinarily a 
few days are spent during the fall and winter months with the team 
and scraper at this particular task. (Fig. 6.) In this study scrap- 
ing the land has been considered improvement work, and while a 
small amount of man and horse labor was shown on some of these 
records no charge for this operation was made against the beet crop. 
It was agreed that this expense should be distributed through a series 
of years and this process renders the cost for a single crop season 
practically negligible. Such work merely adds to the farm capitaliza- 
tion, and any costs that may accrue will be taken care of in the dis- 
tribution of general farm expense to the several enterprises of the 
business. 7 
