The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-06-30
PzI3e Essay ON
the Sugar Beet
r iiYl q (By Mss Letne :. naH1 ).

lt9 OllllCUltl6S VIII ulmlnlb0 ana tue
less IT'S advice will be needed. One
thing that is impressive is the won
derful influence beet culture Is having
on that class OF farmers, tenants and
laborers who may he properly termed
beet growers. II is generally improv-
ing the Droductiveness of the soil and
the features of greatest Importance Is
the tendency 20 methodical produc-
tion OF all crops. A sugar factory not
only intenslfies the farming, but
makes the land support larger pop
ulation. In sugar beet districts the
number of inhabitants deriving their
living from farming Is increased many
times The factory becomes the
nucleus OF settlement The growth
OF the community leads 10 the indus
trial prosperity and general advance
ment. AT the time the American Beet
Sugar company built the factory at
Rocky Ford. The yearly returns of
the railroad We're s97 900, two years
later they were 100000. The popu-
lation OF the town has increased six
~ per cent, or 1000 people
The labor problem is one of the
most di11cult In general agriculture.
mines and the demands OF commerce
have tended TO attract labor away
from the farm by Offering higher
wages and better opportunities. The
sugar factory, unlike other factories.
does not need the advantages nor the
conditions OF large city. but may
be located where It's material is pro-
duoed Many OF these factories are
built in small country villages. but
still the management must deal with
labor problems The first difficulty
when Il farmer starts TO grow beets
Is that there will be a shortage of la
borerS for this intensive culture and
the factory is compelled 10 make ar
rangementS to counteract this. The
effect ls that employment ls given to
men and boys that otherwise would
have been idle In some congested
city The management transports
these sometimes In train loads to the
fresh, inyigorating air OF the country.
The work Is greatly varied. employing
men of different grades from the farm
res son TO the unskilled Jap. In old
communities. the farm hand usually
becomes the skilled factory laborer
during the winter months. Thus the
Industry gives employment practically
the year around the crowded season
fitting nicely with other agricultural
work.
Fifteen years ago there were no
beets grown in the Arkansas Valley.
Cattle raising was the only industry.
The farmers sold their hay TO the
stocltmen. but did not raise enough
other produce to supply the home mar
ltets The value of the land at that
time wns ten dollars per acre. Since
the Introduction of beet culture, II
has risen to seveDty-five TO one hun
dred and flfty dollars per acre. The
local railroad revenues have increased
many hundred per cent. The popula-
ton has increased greatly The com
munity has grown. railroads have
been built. and free mail delivery mas
been established The farming has
mostly changed from the old eXtrave-
CANT way TO the most scientific meth
DDS. The pulp. one of the by-products
OF beets, has made stock feeding n
very good business There is no
place on earth where the beet indus
Try has advanced a community so
greatly as IN this valley, There are
about a million acres in the Arkansas
valley suitable for raising sugar beets.
II is the best for their culture because
Of the bright sunshine and the excel
lent system of irrigation. There arc
six factories in this valley at present
II properly cultivated. sufficient beets
could be produced TO supply fifty fac
tories OF thousand tons capacity.
Fifty factories would Increase the pop
ulation and the value of land eight
times as many as six did The ad-
vancement OF the general SOCIAL and
industrial prosperity in this commun-
ity is due to the systematic culture of
sugar beets.