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growing SUGAR BEETS FOR FACTORIES. 
BY GEORGE H. WEST. 
DR. ALSTON ELLIS, Director, 
United States Experiment Station. 
Eort Collins Colo. 
Dear Sir: — The following investigation of beet growing 
and the conditions at and around the beet sugar factories 
in Nebraska, Utah and New Mexico, was made for the pur- 
pose of learning if it pays the farmers to grow beets for the 
sugar factories of four dollars per ton, and how they are 
grown to produce good beets at a minimum cost. 
The writer has tried to present the absolute facts, 
whether favorable or not, leaving the reader to draw his 
own conclusions. 
The visits to Utah and New Mexico were by authority 
of the Denver Chamber of Commerce, thus making it pos- 
sible to investigate the important features of beet raising 
by irrigation. 
The trip to Norfolk, Nebraska, was made early in 
October, 1897, to Grand Island, Nebraska, the latter 
part of that month. Lehi, Utah, was visited late in Decem- 
ber, i8Q7, and the Pecos Valley, New Nexico, late in Janu- 
ary, 1898. 
Yours Respectfully, 
George H. West, 
Greeley, Colo., Eeb. 18, 1898. 
THE NOREOLK, NEBRASKA, BEET SUGAR FAC- 
TORY. 
The Norfolk Beet Sugar Co. has operated this factory 
since 1891. It is owned by the Oxnards, no stock being 
held by residents of Norfolk. The factory is located about 
two miles north of the city, and obtains its water from 
the north fork of Elkhorn creek. It has a nominal capacity 
of about 250 tons of beets per day. The machinery is said 
to be mostly of German make. The Steffen process is used 
to obtain the sugar from the molasses. 
The price paid for beets is for delivery at. the factory, 
and the following deductions are made for freight charges 
on the U. P. and V. E. & M. V. railroads: 25 miles or under, 
30 cents per ton; over 25 miles and under 45 miles, 50 cents 
per ton; over 45 and under loo miles, 80 cents per ton. 
C., St. P., M. & O. R. R., 30 miles or under, 50 cents per 
