Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1917-02-15
SUGAR BETS.

Now that the Watertown Chamber of Commerce is supporting
a m 4hs 1Gannit 10 exp enpe sinne ia tic n MnG r ,y tI I~n MO- 81 : a"ins
ample means stand ready to erect a suitable factory, the farmers
production of sugar beets and the likelihood of the industry proving
profitable for this region.
concerning the pro]ftableness Of the crop, but it knows that many
farmers in western Colorado as,,a and lot other a, portions lions . of the west have
In northern Colorado, as The Saturday News has reason to be
lieve, the average crop for some years past has been approximately
twelve to thirteen tons to the acre.
In southern Colorado, where irrigation is the rule for the
production of all kinds ds Of crops, as it is IN a considerable portion Of
ten to twelve tons to the acre.
There is a failure now and then, it is true, even in the irrigated
regions, but as a rule these failures may be traced to inehfciency on
the part of the wouldbe grower, and embrace but a small fraction
What the result would be in South Dakota, in the vicinity of
Watertown, is somewhat conjectural. No effort has been made, 50
cial scale.
The State College, some years ago, experimental with sugar
beets and ascertained that the South Dakota sugar beet contains a
fairly large percentage of sugar, varying from fourteen to eighteen.
In a few cases the percentage was above twenty, and in one or two
STATE But co, the a snthgr,id in t h !. ez peri imttaio sa as conducted duo ted by nt the
the tonnage, SO far a the experiments were concerned, was very
But whether the crop in this portion of the northwest will be a
paying one, and whether beets can be grown upon a scale that will
Justify the establishment of a factory here, is a matter that can be
Grand Junction, Colorado, is the center of a beetproducing re-
farmers who have experimental with them have continued to produce
a crop year after year, as a rule, which indicates that they consider
rely upon it alone for a livelihood: Ten, fifteen, twenty, and in
But it should be stated that a farmer acreage Of crops in west
ern= Colorado is nothing like a South Dakota farmers acreage In
irrigated regions a farm of forty acres is fairly large one, whereas
the man who operates a quarter section is a princely agriculturist.
The price for beets in Colorado, as recently announced by the
manager Of the sugar factory at Grand junction, is fixed at the
minimum OF six dollars a ton, based up a graduated scale. That is
to say, the wholesale price of sugar in New York during the time
OF harvesting and delivering beets at the factory, ranging through
the months OF October, November and December, shall be the basis
Tor the price to be paid for beets, with six dollars as the minimum.
At Chaska, Minnesota, there is a sugar beet factory that has
peen operating for some years with marked success, according to re-
ports Those farmers in the vicinity who produce beets, and it is
sad that q large proportion of them do so, devote but a small acre
age to the crop-say, ten, twenty or forty acres-and find that beet
production is profitable.
In America 1T IS not the custom to grow beets on the same land
year after year, although we are told that in some parts Of Europe
1t is the rule. Beet growers in this country have ascertained that
rotation pays, as IS the case in Colorado. Land that produces beets
shisy year year IS left in fine condition for some other crop next, as
exceptionally deep blowing is necessary in beet culture.
me problem for the farmers in the vicinity of Watertown this
= D 10 determine by the production of a sufficient acreage whether
sas m tact, IS a beet region. Experts in the beet industry think it
II me experiments at the State College indicate that their faith
essential. -"
WhMe the cost OF producing an acre Of beets varies from $4,000
70 S55DWs the receipts vary from $4,000 to $500 an acre.
IN southern and western Colorado the average tonnage, as al
fsaay stated, varies from ten to twelve in northern Colorado from
eleven 10 thirteen. AT SIX dollars a ton this year, it is only a matter
" arllninetie TO estimate the average income from an acre of beets
duced.
Q the purpose OF experimentation, the farmers in the vicinity
% WatdtoWn are offered five dollars a ton for the beets that they
produce and denver at the nearest railroad station this year. The