Arizona republican., 1910-06-03

to me lfldI WIltn n ilctli uoto h PACSN of ground for years, and leaves 1t Tn a poorer condition than when he found it. he has committed crime against society. The western farmer needs a lesson in scientific farming, and no better crop can be found for the purpose than the beet.
 For this successful culture the farm must be made as level as gar den, and as all farm products do best on ground which has been carefully prepared, it is easy to see the effect upon the crops which follow The beet can not be grown on common soil without fertilization. thus the ground must he constantly enriched with fer tiliZer, or by attenuation with alfalfa or cereals. As a matter of fact other crops thrive best on beet ground, due to the preparation of the soil and the stores of nourishment which has been left. An erroneous idea current with the farmers is that while the beet consumes vast quantities of nourish- ment. it leaves none in the soil. When we see a beet we fail to realize that besides the enlarged root, which IS sent to the factory, there is dense root system left in the ground-about a ton to the acre. Beets do not inJure the ground for other crops, but rather improves it, and I am certain that combined with alfalfa and grains they can not be rivalled as an agency in the preparation and upbuilding of the soil.
 Often the farmer has to look at the value of crop nrfterms of cash, and the beet when properly raised will yield far greater returns than any other agricultural product without even counting it's valuable by products and benefits to the soil
 With this crop there is real econo- my in the use of land. If those who try to raise forty five or fifty acres in a slipshod manner would concen- trate their energies upon ten or fifteen acres, the results would be much more satisfactory This is made clear by little reasoning which will at the some time show how great are the profits of the industry We will suppose that we have a ten-acre tract. From inter views with producers l gathered that {, .enty tons to the acre may easily be raIsed and that forty tons have been produced at this place. These farmers thought the cost of production of eight to twelve tons would be $25; twelve to fourteen. BPS. and fourteen to twenty. s30 Suppose that on ten-acre tract we were to raise an eightton crop we would get q profit of s150. but if on the same ground we grew fourteen tons to the acre. we would realize a profit of s42O: if we raised a twenty ton crop we would have s7OO pure gain, and would make the same profit as d neighbor who planted-a forty acre patch and got an eight-ton crop.
 The effects of this great industry, which is as yet only started. best speak for themselves. The result of having million-dollar factory brought into the community. and Of having similar ones built all along the valley may best be shown by pointing out what has been done in specific instances. We will take Bent county as an example. The factory was built in 1907. and immediately our little town took on new life. Real estate values doubled and trebled; the assessed value of property which in l5u0 WAS S1-4Sl,bao, IOcS lp SA.ffSscopf and for 1910 it will be about S3.000.- 000; modern business blocks were built. cement sidewalks were laid, and a general awakening ensued in which saloons were abolished. gambling dens were closed, the schools were greatly improved. and a thoroughly clean town resulted. You may be sure the farmer got his share of the benefits. The value of his farm doubled. he be- came independent of the stockman. as he could resort to raising beets. which are a cash crop, and on which he could always obtain advances; be- sides all this. a railroad was built for his benefit. along which were erected stockyards and beet dumps, thus saving him the trouble and eX- pense of having to go to town, and today. especially in the beet raising districts. Bent county also has the best wagon roads in the state.
 The beet industry requires the use of hundreds of extra hands. who leave a part of their earnings with the merchants. thus helping to make them the prosperous class that they are. The factory itself while running uses from two to three hundred men, to whom are paid s700 in wages erery twenty-four hours: it consumes 800 tons of beets every twenty-four hours, for which the company pays the farmers direct S4,000. Besides this, it consumes large quantities of coal. limestone, chemicals and other miscellaneous supplies.
 There is no comparison between our commercial relations at the pres ent time and those of the anti-beet period. There win be still less com parison between the Las Animas of today and of a few years hence. The same industry which coupled with irrigation has transformed this once sod covered wilderness into d bloom ing garden promises great things for the future. and we can only surmise as to the proportions which it will as- sume.