The Holly chieftain., 1905-05-05
Fortunes in Beets.
In a short time the entire

seel In some localities the
seed is already in the ground and
reports are beginning to come IN.
IT should not be long before il
will be possible to estimate. ap-
proximately the amount of land
to he given over 10 beet culture.
That the acreage will be unpre-
cedentedly large is ii certainty
The reason for it is that the farm
Ell has found it profitable and the
factories find an immense quantity
of imported sugar TO displace
(which they can do at profit }
and, ofcourse, they make money.
The beet is a sure crop and the
prices is fixed and the beets sold
before the seed is sown. The
beet seems to be hardy, as the
the following incident will owe:
A farmer in northern Colorado.
near Fort Collins. devoted con
siderable land to the sugar b ct
When the tops were we'll above
ground severe hailstorm cut the
tops as clean as though they had
ben cut 10 the ground with a
mower. and he feared his crop
was total loss. But new tops
sprung up and a crop of such
proportions WAS garnered that he
was inclined to think the cutting
off Of the tops was a benefit.
Around Delta on the western
slope, beet planting has b gun and
returns show that this years crop
will be the largest in the history
of the country. Last year was the
first to see beets grown there, the
acres planted TO beets numbering
100. This year there are 5000
acres devoted to the new industry,
and it ia altogether likely that
there will be a much largeracreage
next year and that Delta will have
her own factory and will not be
restricted in her acreage because
of dependence upon the Grand
Junction factory, the one nearest
to Delta.
Planting of beets is being rush
ed by the farmers in Fort Collins
district. The factories at Greeley
and Longmont have refused to
accept any additional acreage and
the local factory has about all it
cares to handle, 10000 acre s
having been signed by the farmers.
If the crop this year is as good ms
last this arr,ase should yield $50,
900 tons of bee!s, worth 500 900
This means an average of S7j
gross per acre for the farmers.
The Longmont sugar factory
has recently been refusing to take
any more beet ncrenge contracts
rs 800 acres have alrerdy been
contracted d for, and this amount
will run the factory throughout
the season to the increased capa
city Of l,2C0 tons per day, This
condition is a noteworthy one
from the fact that only year age
great difficulty was experienced
III getting sufficient acreage tc
run the plant to evel is origina
crpacity 600 tons. The causes fol
this change seems to be the com
parative fire., dom from injury 10y
hnil which the bset crop enjoy
and the fact that the price ia de
tinitely fixed at S. pr ton. A
fair farmer knows that he is assur,
I'D above $50 IN acre profit from
beet crop, so be hesitates ab u,
atsnming the additional risks oil
other crops.
Large numbers of men nre now
being s.nt into nol thern Coloiai,
to work in the sugar beet field.
for the coming season. Plowing
and preparing for planting are
now under way, and on account OF
the liberal moisture which has pre-.
vail d this spring the lind is in
better shape for large crop than
ever before.
Charles Boettcher of the great
Western Sugar Company estimates