THE BEET-SUGAR rXDUSTRY IN 1920. 51 
topography of the country, and (3) the nature of the roadbed. In 
genera] it lias been found that 4 or 5 miles is the maximum distance 
that sugar beets can be hauled profitably. It is apparent that the 
distance depends to a great extent upon the topography and the 
nature of the roadbed. If the country is hilly, and especially if 
the hills are steep, it frequently is unprofitable to haul sugar beets. 
Unless at least 3 tons of beets can be hauled per load the condi- 
tions must be very favorable to make the handling of this crop 
profitable. In the survey by the Office of Sugar-Plant Investiga- 
tions, cooperating with the Office of Farm Management and Farm 
Economics, it has been found that, other things being equal, the 
cost of delivering beet roots increases directly with the distance. In 
this survey the topography and the care of the roadbed were practi- 
cally the same for all cases compared. It is apparent that it would 
be more expensive to haul a short distance over a poor or hilly road 
than several times that distance over a level stone road (PL VI, 
fig. 2.) In speaking of the hauling distance, reference is made not 
to the distance from the factory, but to the loading station or point of 
delivery. In this respect the grower near the sugar mill has no ad- 
vantage over the grower many miles away, provided the latter is near 
a beet dump. 
The railroad haul is another point to be considered. As a rule, 
beets can not be transported more than 100 miles with profit, at least 
under normal conditions. There are, of course, circumstances under 
which longer hauls are permissible and profitable. Frequently in 
trying out a new sugar-beet section it is necessary to haul the roots 
several hundred miles, but in such cases it is not expected that any 
considerable profit will be obtained from these beets, and, in fact, 
they sometimes are transported long distances at a loss in order to 
determine whether beets of sufficient yield and quality to make beet 
growing profitable can be grown in a given locality. The length of 
the railroad haul depends to some extent upon the local conditions, 
the returns that may be obtained, and whether the haul is over a 
single road or over two or more lines. 
CONTRACTS. 
All sugar beets grown commercially for sugar-making purposes are 
grown under contract. These contracts are issued by the sugar com- 
pany and are signed by some official or agent of the company and 
also by the beet grower. The principal points covered in the con- 
tracts include the acreage to be planted, the price to be paid for the 
beets, the methods of handling the crop, the time of harvest, and the 
regulation of delivery. Contracts are necessary because a definite 
acreage of sugar beets is required in order to make a successful mill 
