Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-02-21
Tho Sugar Beet.

which will be so extensively engaged
in hy the farmers of Ilerrison county
this season:
SILVER GREEN, Nes.. Feb. 3.-'Tos
the Editor OF the World Herald:
Knowing that Il good manv farmers
will this year 81 DIV sugar beets who
never grew them hefn.o, and believing
that all such Will ." ~ anxious as
was to know OF, aud profit by, the ex-
perience of others, write this letter.
giving some OF the experiences of an
inexperienced sugar beet grower.
Until last season had no practical
knowledge whatever of the business.
and OWING to the very unsatisfactory
results in the case of many farmers of
my acquaintance who had grown beets,
with ome serious ,nisgiving entered
into "A contract with the American
Beet Sugar company of Grand Island
to plant nine acres for the season of
I 1901. The undertaking proved so salts
factory that have already contracted
with the company TO plant fifteen
acres the coming season, and shall
probably make another contract to
plant ten additional acres, or twenty
+! five acres in ALL
| The nine acres planted was bottom
land, mostly u heavy black soil and
about -four feet above the undertlow.
! The l;sed had been in cultivation some
thirty years and had been twice heav-
lily manu1ed, the last time in the year
nt 1898. About one-third of this was
proWed in the fail and the remainder
IN the spring, all at an average of about
! ten inches deep. About four acres
were planted on the 5th of May and
five acres on the 18th and 195h of May.
got good stand, the second plant
ling being better than the irst, and the
fall blowing giving better stand than
the spring blowing. On the third day
|of Jnne planted four acres more of
1simDar land, except that it had been in
cultivation about twenty years, only a
part had ever been manured and the
soil was full of weed seeds of all kinds.
whereas the nine acres had been COM
Iparatlvely free from weeds for years.
This ground had been in buchwheat
.}the preceding season and was very
mellow and nice Hrotitlng by exper-
Iience already gained, got more
leven surface for planting and was re-
warded with a most beautiful stand.
/ This last planting was out of season,
as the LIST of June ia considered the
i limit. But it proved fortunate for
me, for when the excessive fall rains
began these beets were Still growing
and consequently could not take a
second growth, as did the beets of the
first and second paintings, thus lower
ing the sugar content so that ] only
got SO per ton for them. whereas got
So per ton for those beets last planted.
The four acres yielded between
eighteen and nineteen tons per acre,
and the entire thirteen acres, includ-
ling about fifteen tons retained for my
} own use, just about an even twenty
!, tons per acre net factory weight.
For ali the beets shipped to the fac
tory received SSlO.l3 If we add to
this $40, the value at SO per ton of the
fifteen tons retained, we have a total
of 1856 ID If, now, from this amount
we deduct $500 for expenses, and am
+ sure that would be an ample allow
ance q did not keep strict account to
the last dollar), we have $3.50 IL as my
nat profit on the thirteen acres, or
S42.7O per acre. II / had received 81
4 per ton for all my beets and any beet
grower will be sure of getting at least
that under contracts made for the
coming season, my net profit per acre
/. would have been SD7.
AS to help required, one man can
easily plant ten acres q day and culti-
vate four acres day. Four good
. boys, 10 to IL years of age, could easily
: have weeded my thirteen acres, and
two other good boys, Is to 16 years of
age, could have done the punching.
In such beets one man could top one
half acre per day. aud one boy should
. pull them for him and FAY them in
! rows. One man should pick up and
], haul two and one half miles, the dis
ltance | had to haul, six to eight tons
per day and shovel them into the car
s On an average put twenty five tons,
I factory weight, in Gag.
n had heard so much about sugar
d beet culture being such a fearful I'M
9 dertaking that began it with feel
S ing of dread. But can truthfully
say that in all my more than forty
years of practical farming / never
grew crop in which took SO much
Of every day delight. believe that
i under present conditions there is more
: money to be made in growing sugar
y beets than in any other farm crop, and
9 cannot too strongly urge any farmer
; within reasonable distance of rail
y road station and who has suitable
8 ground and is sure of his help, to pant
II at least few acres.
Il CHARLES WOOSTER.
For Sale.