Laurel outlook., 1947-10-01
ANDREWS DISCUSSES
SUGAR BEET VALUES

What the sugar beet industry
means to the community, advances
that are being made in production
and parallel improvements being
achieved in processing were discus
sed here Wednesday evening at the
weekly dinner meeting of the XII
wants club by Lyman Andrews,
manager of the Billings factory of
Great Western Sugar company. He
was introduced by ]. w. Baldwin,
program chairman.
Visitors were introduced by Pres
ident w. A. Ziegler. They were
Kenneth Burrell and Frank A. Whit
man, both members of the Kiwanis
club at Helena.
The sugar factory manager, An
drews, said sugar beets represent
created wealth and that the wealth
produced by Montana agriculture far
exceeds the combined production of
oils and minerals in the state. Ag-
r%iculture as a highly valuable source
of income is worthy of further en-
couragement.
AS a beet producer Montana ranks
third in the nation, exceeded only
by California, first, and Colorado,
second.
Among the interesting statistics
quoted by the speaker was that At
per cent of the irrigated acreage in
Montana in 1915 produced $52, 000,-
600, and that figures from reclama-
ton projects in the state showed II
per cent of their land when planted
beets yielded AZ per cent of their
lands gross revenue.
In the Laurel territory, according
to pre-war figures, an acre yielded
gross that was $50 more than the
average of other crops. Another
item was that II acres will support
one average family, or $4,000 peo-
Pile a live off the total.
AS a source of food, beets con-
vert twice as much solar energy as
any other crop. A pound of sugar
contains 1900 calories.
To successfully compete with the
'orn states, Montana stockmen need
heap feed for their cattle and
sheep. The ~by-products of beets fill
important place in the livestock
industry, a division of general ag-
'iculture. The tops from an acre
equal the feed value of an acre of
,Orn.
A problem of agriculture is sus- {
aimed fertility of the land and an
increased fertility, for a dollar in t
rease on the farm means a 81 in
rease in the national income and t
i increase in the factory payroll. (
icing used in this territory now are t
fertilizers to enrich the soil t
nth nitrogen and potash and some !
xcellents results are obtained. +
Labor has been another problem t
4 beet production, and well noted t
his year. The shortage is being J
vercome to an extent by mechanical q
on. AS an illustration, the speaker v
aid, there are 100 mechanical har- g
esters working in this factory dis t
'ict this fall, and Tuesday 102 cars r
ere loaded though there were cool
ever workers. Another item in p
lechanization is the %segmenting of s.
led, an improvement over the cid c.
lethod of planting. b
Forty-two laboratories in univer- j.
ties and colleges are carrying on Fl
multitude of investigations and IL
zperiments to increase yields, re- Il
ice the labor and cut costs. Other Il
7udies concern new uses of sugar II
~by-products. n
The seed now used here is pro- E
iced in Arizona and New Mexico, p
ed for the western states and 81
superior yields of sugar from 5
beets. g.
Andrews closed by stressing the n
.sirability of close cooperation with II
e growers and again called atten- at
On to the value of the crop to the
tire community. III