The Delta independent., 1924-09-19
ONE CROP THAT NEVER
FAILS TO PAY FARMERS

| 1928 crop to the amount of about
| $4,000, which comes in very handy
right now. The first payment on the
1924 crop, which is the basic payment,
is made within 80 days after delivery
of beets and then the farmer has
something to look forward to almost
until his beets are ready to be deliver
ed the next fall.
The sugar beet industry each year
| brings into Delta county a large
amount of income for all residents of
the county. 1t is thriving, substanti-
al industry, and one of which Delta
may well be proud, and one which she
should do all possible to support and
maintain.
For the 1924 crop it is estimated
that the farmers in this county will
receive in the neighborhood of one
million dollars. This is exclusive of
the wages which will be paid to the
workers in the factory. Much more
than million dollars will be brought
into the county through this one in
dustry.
1t is not only the money which is
derived from the sale of the beets and
sugar which is a good thing for the
community. Sugar beets are good for
the land and combine greater pro
ductivity for the fields in other crops
with a profit for the farmer while
improving these fields. This adds to
the value of farming of the com
munity and makes better products
every year.
Ease of livestock feeding is an
other asset which comes with the
sugar beets for their tops make excel
lent feed for cattle and fatten them
Cattle make demand for alfalfa hay
which can be fed here much more
profitably than the hay can be ship
ped Grain raising likewise prospers.
Without the feed from the beet tops,
however, there would not be enough
feed of the right kind to provide for
the cattle which can be raised here.
i. Larger crops and more cattle de-
mand more labor; more men can find
jobs and support themselves and their
families in Delta county instead Of
joining the exodus to California. Sug-
ar beets themselves make work for
more laborers who spend their money
where they make it.
Prosperity for the community re-
suits.
On the dry plains of eastern Colo
RADIO little villages have sprung up in
to bustling centers of prosperity
, through the demands of people who
have made good successes on account
, of sugar beets. The Eastern Slope
owes its prosperity and growth to
: sugar beets; they have built up the
country from absolutely nothing to
fertile fields and thriving towns. How
much more can be done with the
wonderful start we already have? Let
US keep sugar beets here-and more
acreage which will lead to another
factory.
The present price of beets Is good.
The farmers and the factories are
making money But let the tariff
schedule on sugar drop, even little,
and what will be the result? The
factory will not be able to pay such
good wages; It will not be able to
pay so much for the beets; the farm
er will have to lower his wages to
beet workers; the standards Of living
in the community must be lowered -
and shortly the farmers will not find
1t profitable to raise beets; they will
stop. Then the activity brought on by
the production Of this crop will cease.
Fewer cattle will be raised. less hay
l., L. ,,.gI L., 4,
for labor will fall off; people will
necessarily leave the county to find
some place where they will be able to
| work; even for the sake Of the
| splendid rotation crop, farmers will
not raise beets and the quality Of 9th
er products viii necessarily fan off.
| Any reduction on the present schedule
Of sugar spells disaster for Delta
| county.
And the lowering Of the present tar
iff will mean the lowering Of the
| price of sugar. Even a small reduction
| in tariff will be felt here for foreign
| countries are anxious to step in and
| sell their cheaply produced sugar on
| the American market. They would be
| willing to sell with a mighty small
margin in order to get foothold in
the United States. All they are wait
ing for is a reducing Of the tariff.
Many people remember when sugar
beets raised here brought around 81
a ton. Contrast this with 80 G35. the
price for last year. Then notice the
difference in the community; the diff
ference in the roads; the difference in
the number Of people and the business
of the town. We don't want to go back
to the old days.
with sugar beets and sugar in their
present status, however, Delta county