The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1905-11-10
President and General Manager
Of Five Factories
TALKS TO OUR REPORTER
Speaks of the Sugar Beet, Its Treat
ment and Success and Failure. The
Country Has Much at Stake.

II Thos r. Cutler, the man who com
menced advocating the cultivation of
the sugar beet by irrigation in 1889, and
who is now the president and general
manager of a concern that operates five
sugar factories in Utah and Idaho and
is building three more, spent last Satur-
day in Blackfoot When we asked him for
a few minutes of his time he seated US
comfortably, and then took long in
qulsltlve look into our eyes while we
sized up the sugar king. 1t is nice to be
allowed few seconds to take the meas
ure of your man before firing shot, and
the slight built man in the rocker look
ed rather good to us. He seemed fifty
five years old, is little gray, has good
face a good eye, lips that bespeak afec-
ton and refinement with nothing hard
nor severe about the mouth. His fea
lures manifest grit and pluck, but if he
holds place among the captains of in
y,
things which are both good and broad
rather than by pushing things with Sc
verify.
Such was our impression of the man
up to the time when his inquisitive look
developed into smile and he saiok
swell, what can ] do for you? | am at
your service and we answered.
"What seems to be the status of the
sugar business here? We have had a
partial failure in the beet crop, and
everybody living here is hurt
"Yes," said he, Everybody is hurt,
and we are hurt too. When | say we
! mean the present owners of the fac
tory. But we are not discouraged. Of
course we are disappointed over the con
dition of the crops and the shortage of
production, but none of us can help that
and we must put up with it. Eight
years ago we had just such a failure at
Lehi, but the following year we had the
greatest yield we have ever had. This
blight or whatever you may be pleased
to call it, never repeats itself for two
successive years. 1t has attacked the
crop in this country and in the Old
World number of times but not for
two seasons in succetsion.'
"Have you learned the cause of it
yeti"
''No, that is not known. We know
that it's effects are the most damaging
on late beets and on plants that are weak
or poorly developed. Wherever it has
visited a locality this feature has been
observed, and we have reason to think
that it is more likely to occur in hot dry
weather than when it is showery. Where
the fields have been kept we'll watered
the blight is just as severe, SO we think
the moisture is needed on the leaves.
The next time we find it attacking
crop we will try sprinkling belts of the
crop lying near the bitches to see what
we can learn about it,
"Isn't it true that the blight may be
induced, or the beet be made an easier
prey to it by Withholding the first water
ing too long?"
"Anything that dwarfs the beet or re-
duces it's vitality will make it an easier
prey to the blight. But giving it the
water too early keeps the beet from
forming the long tap root While it is
compelled to seek moisture it will send
its tap root downward, and this gives
the right form to the beet. After men
have raised beets few years they know
how to- govern these things to get both
shape and size"
as the blight very widespread this
season.
at visited several of the counties in
Utah, and this particular locality. Far
ther up the valley it has not done so
much damage. The best farmers have
generally been hurt the least
"Are the farmers likely to get discour-
aged over the failure and quit planting
'beets?"
',That has not been our experience.
Failures are likely to come, with any
crop, and nobody knows it better than
the farmer There is doubtless some
land in beets here which ought not to be
planted to beets Not all land is adapt
ed to beet raising, and then too, some OF
the farmers have planted too large
tracts. Parts of these tracts may not be
properly graded for watering, or the soil
may not be right. This ought to be
planted to something else In Utah We
have tracts which have raised beets fer
fiftaan cnccacciva aoaSons and ara still