Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-04-24
NOrthw st Farming
News and Notes y lsuaslca - - Gs..a Focsa. Herald
SUGAR BEETS NEXT

Sugar beets are gaining in favor in
northern Minnesota and it is reason
able to believe lat North Dakota will
have it's beet acreage also in the
near future. SO popular has sugar
beet raising become that one hears
the possibility Of IL sugar refinery
mentioned frequently in he cities of
northern Minnesota and in Grand
y Forks. ~ "
II. NJ. Mccall, horticulturalist OF the
University of Minnesota Northwest
School and Experiment station at
Crookston. Minnesota, when inter-
viewed, recently by the Herald visitor
aid
Good Yields.
Sugar bects have been raised very
successfully in tho Fed River Valley
in the last two years. Last year the
: price for sugar bcets was lower and
! the freight rates higher causing Il con-
siderably reduced acreage. The yield
however was good, running from to
12 OF per acre on an average. and
the highest yield being IA tons. In
1920 the crop was good. The Filmor
in Elite and Klein Wanzle,ener Elite
yielded 10.5 and lie tons. respective
W This yield at the current price OF
$40 per ton would nalic 4 gross return
~ more than 500 per acre. There
we're zoo acres OK sugar poets III inc
'nHiStnn territory.
recording to the statements of the
= gar refining company the
Il, content of b"ets grown in this area is
very high. lie average being IA per
cent indeed, with our long daylight
there is every reason why beetS Of SUI
2 perior quality should be raised here.
There is plenty of sunlight here. and
/ fewer cloudy days tina farther south
i.pall of which makes for d high sugar
Gnntent in tho bcets.
In order to have beets very gen
orally, and that means very proiitably,
grown--it is necessary to "a Il near
er market tina that at present offer
I'd. The nearest is Chlska, Mime
sofa, near Minneapolis, where the
Minnesota Sugar company has its
plant.
Labor Problem Solved.
"The Minnesota Sugar company has
Supplied the labor to look after the
pcets in this vicinity. AS soon as the
bects show through the ground this
cheap labor takes care of the crop.
The farmer prepares the land, plants
/, The seed and does the horse labor.
The laborers do the thinning, weed
ing and hoeing. The farmer harvests
hi crop with a beet digger. Their
the laborers top the beets.
Inc Dee( tops nave not DeCTl uSeu
around here for silage a yet.
The farmers furnish the bunk
houses for the laborers and they
board themselves. Whole families
come as labor groups. and the entire
family works in the beet field. They
are foreigners and live very cheaply.
About ten acres is the most that an
average family of this type can man
age. The sugar company contracts
xxySf h {1ro E ~ ~ r fo,. = Ln .1~. , ~ rL@,,t
SIS per acre for the season, and
places the laborers on the various
farms. This is ar easy solution of the
labor problem-one of the most i'm
portant things to be considered in the
raising of such Il root crop as this. A
district supervisor sees to it that the
beets are given the proper care. Tho
company pays the laborers and takes
the Wag out Of the amount due the
farmer for the bects. The beets are
planted at u contract price of so much
: per ton. and the payment is made very
promptly as soon as- the bcets are de-
livered.
There is no advantage in harvest
ing the beets before October, as hard
freezing does not hurt them, and they
increase in value the longer they are
allowed to grow. However, it is we'll
to dig them before. the heavy frosts
come to harden the ground and SO
make digging difficult.
- Benefit Soil.
Sugar beets. exhaust the soil. as
does any intensively cultivated crop.
Some farmers had disappointing crops
of small grains on sugar best soil last
year, but that was largely to a
ack Of moisture. Tho beets are of
s-sreat value in cleaning up the soil.
weeds yield to them. A nan
should not be misled into thinking
that beets would be the remedy for
!. perennial weeds such as duack grass.
however. Beet growing as an indus
4 try doesn't lit into grain farming. The
soil must be we'll fortified il it is to be
kept up, and consequently this type of
farming fits in admirably with stock
raising.
d where the soil is we'll fortified
there is Il greater return Of beets per
Ton to the acre than there is Of grain.
The farmer in an average year gets
y about $73 per acre for his own labor
and land. His net profit at Sc per ton
/ would exceed his profit from small
I grains on h same acreage. and at
the same time the land would be bene-
I flied"
David Wigand, agent for the Mime
sofa Sugar company at Crookston,
when questioned about the sugar beet
prospects said:
Large Acreage.
have contracted, for d. very
nice acreage this year near East
Grand Forks and in the Vicinity of
Fisher and C~rookSton, 1870 acres in
all. Last year we had $50 acres.
The question is often asked are
sugar beets hare on Solo This oues-
. ion is answered in a statement made
by Truman G.. Pa1nar evecutjva