The daily sentinel., 1906-01-22
CONCERNING BETS
AND BEET GROWERS.

1t has been rumored of late by par
ties not conversant with the methods
of beet raising and the lucrative re
ceipts from the same that this is a
very Improbable way of gaining liv-
4 lihood For the benefit of these un-
! informed parties and for the fur
| thering of their interests as well as
our own, ! wish to state briefly a few
facts concerning beet culture backed
by the testimony of some of our well
known growers.
First. we will compare the beet
crop with other crops raised under
the same conditions. When a farm
er plants alfalfa, wheat, oats. or po-
tatoes he has not the remotest idea
what he is going to receive for his
crop after its maturity. The down
fall of his neighbors means his own
salvation: for should there be an
abundance of hay or grain the prices
will be low. whereas, big price will
mean a small crop for an indefinite
period before finding a buyer. Dur
ing the past three or four years while
the potato crop has been enormous
we all know that the price received
has been so meagre that bushel upon
bushel have been allowed to rot upon
the ground. the market price being
far too low to pay the grower for the
mere handling. On the other hand
when a grower plants piece of
ground TO beets. he is assured from
the start of receiving a good price
for his product whether his crop be
small or large. When his tonnage is
small. he will. as he would with any
other crop, receive a good price for
the actual crop produced whereas
should the crop be large. he will still
receive this same good price, regard
less of his neighbours crop, and viii
find that he has received more money
for his product, than he could have
possibly received for any other crop.
Befor you plant a grain of seed, this
company Will sign "A contract with
you agreeing to pay you an establish
ed rate of $500 per ton for your beets
and Will furnish you seed imported
from Germany and do your planting
for you, and also pay transportation
for workers to come and do your lab
or
viii the purchaser of your hay.
grain or potatoes Offer you such in
ducements2 We regret exceedingly
that we are not able to control the
elements nor to force beets to grow
on poor ground or with improper
care However, these same condi-
lions govern all other crops, and
while some of the beets during the
past season were washed out by high
water, others planted on poor ground,
and others killed by blight other
crops suffered in like manner, and
our growers themselves tell us that
they received more money for their
beets than any other products. While
the crops in this vicinity were bad.
we find that in other sections of the
country they were equally as poor,
if not poorer. Utah had poorer
crop this year than II has had for
the past fifteen ears. and received
but two-thirds of the usual beet crop.
while this valley received full four
fifths of its usual crop. While a few
of our growers had very poor success
in raising beets the past season others
have had very good crops, the total
tonnage of beets and the net receipts
for some of whom will be given be
low in their own figures:
Mr.. Henry station. of Carbondale,
planted five acres of beets. This fall
we paid him $437.50 for the beets
delivered from this five acres. Mr..
station tells us that it cost him $500
an acre to raise this crop and place
the beets on the cars. or a total of
$1,000. Deducting this from the
amount he received for his entire
crop and 1t leaves a net profit of
$50 SO per acre, or a total of $262. 80
for the five acres. Mr.. Station in
tends to raise thirteen acres of beets
the coming year and has contract
with us to that effect.
Mr. C. f. Woodruff. of Olathe. is
very well pleased with his crop, and
in a personal letter to the manage
menf states that he made more money
out of his beet crop than any other.
This gentleman planted twenty acres
to sugar beets, and from this twenty
acres he harvested 322 tons for which
we paid him 100000. To mature
and harvest this crop he paid as fol
lows: Three hundred and forty
four dollars for hauling, $500 of Ger
man labor: $50 for water rental, $44
for seed, $40 for planting: $40 for ir-
rigation, $50 for labor transporta
ton. and 500 for cultivation and
blowing, making in all $h.01S.0O.
Deducting this from the amount re
ceived for his beets leaves him a net
profit of $4,000.
Mr.. Oscar Holland of Grubb's Sid
ing near Carbonate who is one of
the largest land owners in that part
of the country and who has always
been heavy potato raiser, writes
us that our field man induced him
last spring to put in seventy acres
very rocky ground and did not yield
very heavily, but Notwithstanding
this, we paid him $4,S11.90 for his
beets. He then sold his beet tops for
S175, which made his gross receipts
S4.9S6.9O. He of courseI purchased
a lot of new machinery-to work this
crop, but he still has this and it will
last him for several ears. Including
this. his crop cost him in round num-
bers 500. or a fraction over $35
per acre. Dedueting this from his
gross receipts, gives him a profit of
s2.4s6.gO on his entire crop. Mr..
Holland Is highly pleased with theI
outcome of this crop and has signed
a contract for seventy-five acres of
beets for next year.
These are but few of the many
who made a success of their beet
crop this year. and while some of
the others did not make as much as
they expected, we are glad to say that
they are all contracting with us for a
beet acreage for the coming season.
NOT DEAD,