The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1910-02-19
LOCATION OF SUGAR FACTORY IN
MissoULA DISCUSSED AT
LENGTH
INSTITUTE IN SESSION
Raising OF Beets Is Given Careful At
ten,ion-Ouring Day Experts Of State
Give Lectures on Matters OF Agricut.
tural interest-Evenlno Meeting in
Masonic Temple.

Tho evening session OF the first day
of the Missonla county Farmers In
stltnte, which was held III the Ma
sonic temple last night. was devoted
entirely to the discussion nf the sugar
beet Industry and the chances for u
factory In Missoula r. =. Lnsk pre-
sided over the meeting Before in
Producing the speakers. MIR I.nsk
made short talk on the question be-
Tore the meeting, and gave the btlsl-
ness mems standpoint and the reasons
Tor calling the meeting. which he said
was an educational one lie then In
troduced the first speaker. Director i.
u. Liniield. Of the state experimental
station. His address. IN part. was as
follows.
! am going to present this question
tonight from two standpoints. that Of
the farmer and that Of the business
community. The farmer makes the
town. Take the farmer away from
the town and 1t dies. Conditions here
are more favorable for the successful
raising of sugar beets than they are
at Billings. When the raising OF sugar
beets was first contemplated the ter
ritory around Missoula and this Sec
ton OF the country was considered to
be the best adapted To the raising
OF the beet but Billings got to work
first. The factory at Billings is pay
Ing on basis of II per cent sugar
and 80 per cent purity. They do NOT
nave any trouble In getting these
qualifications. II they do not have
any trouble with the quality. the nunn-
tity is To be considered. In the neigh
borhood OF Billings they get from Is
to 20 tons per acre. and on execp-
tional land they get from 90 To %.
regret very much the fact thnt Mr.. I.
ID. o'Donnell of Billings was delayed
on account OF the lateness OF the
trains and could not reaeh the meet
Ing. an he Is the one man that could
present both the factory and the farm
er side of the question.
Soil Is Good.
The soil In the vicinity of Mis-
sonla should be more adapted 10 the
sugar beet than the Billings soil. There
Is less alkal here than there. and
the less alkali the better You think
TINT from sl2 10 SIS per acre for labor
II a good deal 10 pay. In raising sugar
beets YOU must expect to cxpcnd ut
least s35 or $40 per acre each year.
the question of lnbor Is nf paramount
Importance IN the beet industry, a.
almost all OF It IL hand labor. The hoo
has 10 be used. This brings n class
Of labor to the country that in one
generation makes good American citi-
2ons: The people that came To Billings
To do this class Of work are mostly
OF German extraction. and as rule
are ambitious, hard working people.
Many OF them already own little tracts
OF land which they cultivate, as well
as working for the larger owners.
o'Donneirs Figures.
TO illustrate the cost per aero OF
raising beets and the profit derived
from II. | Will quote you some figures
obtained from Mr.. O'Donneil from an
s0-acrt tract The total cost per acre.
including hanlage. was sIi,e5 per acre.
The total returns from the so acres
was $3.50. This leaves n net profit
OF over $40 per acre. The tonnage
averaged seventeen and one half tons
per acre. II you farm right you can
obtain these results every year. 1t
means work aud hard work. but lnten-
sified farming pays. The beet factory
started five years ago with 5.0c0 acres
in beets. Today over / 900 acres near
Billings are In heets That shows
that II pays the farmer 10 grow beets.
The beet does not spoil the ground
for other crops. hu, good crops can be
grown in ground that has been used
for 'oeets"
The Billings factory has made IN
offer of 81 per ton To Hazeman people
II they will raise 1000 acres OF sugar
beets This price is ON board cars at
the different stations, the factory 10
pay the cost Of hauling. The beet
raising industry is cooperative mat
ter The farmer must mako money
or ne quits raising beets. When he
quits raising beets then the factory
quits operation Tho factory AT Bii-
ings IS contemplating spending $4,000
in an experimental station 10 see IL
anything can be done to increase The
yield in the beet industry More money
To the farmer means moro money to
the factory, and Il Is lienred that the
factory's officials can We'll affafd to
eXpand this amount OF money 10 study
the beet question and 10 perfect IL
in its smallest details
More Figures
The matter was opened for general
discussion AT the conclusion Of Mr..
Linfeid's address and several aues-
tlons were asked and answered. Pro-