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Show 'GROWING SUGAR BEET SEED; UTAH RIVALS GERMANY now Tin-: l AKMiNi; is sccckss- I I I.I.Y CONDUCTED AT CAKLAM) The Rocky mountain stales have long been famous for their suar bee's, but it is quite another matter to raise the seed: and. up to the war, of the 7,500,000 pounds of sugar beet seed used each car (o supply the needs of the United States, less than one-twentieth was produced in thij country. This meant that nearly a million dollars bed to be sent out of the country each year for this one article, as practically all of the world's '.i;"::r !oei. seed was produced pro-duced in Germany, France and Aus-svia-lluugary. But just now the host seed in the world is produced in Utah, and was being harvested this August at the rate of 2000 pounds to the acre. Eastern tourists who leave Salt Lake City for the Yellowstone or the Northwest have to pass through the Bear river valley, and, though they may think of Jim Bridger, who discovered it, they probably don't realize re-alize that around the sugar factory of the town of Garland are the ideal conditions of the world for growing sugar beet seed. S. 11. Traccy, sugar beet investigator for (he United States bureau of plant industry, was in Garland last June and toid the growers there t'jat i:o")icre in this country or in Europe had he seen ; a better stand of sugar beot plants, so healthy and luxuriant was their growth and so clean their cultivation. The growers have ideal soil "ami cli- mate conditions, and, as (hey say, they have through irrigation a "cinch on the water," without which you can't grow the seed. It must be ap- , plied at the right time or the seed will ripen before it is mature. Everyone in Utah connects this comparatively now industry with the war. Automobile panics riiiinji around Garland last June, when the 145 acres of seed beets were in bloom, would stop and wonder at ' the strange sight. Here was some- Y a thing that looked like acres of tall weeds and smelted like a forest of mignonette. And when (he layman discovered what the unusual crop really was he would say: "Why of course. We have to raise our own sugar beet seed now the war is on, and wo can't import any more from Germany or France." Like most lav- - v. men, he only jumped at conchisions. Beet seed isi still being imported from France, and some rtlill comes from Germany, though only heaven and the contractors know how it. is , done. The war has given a big impetus im-petus to the raising of sugar heel, seed in Utah but the real reason foiling foi-ling existence of the imuslry in the. state is that the sugar companies find that they can grow (heir own sed cheaper than they can import it. They find that they can raise their own seed at a total cost of four or live cents a pound, while th ini-' """ ported costs from 10 to in. Up in Hillings, Mont.., .is Dr. Mendelssohn, Men-delssohn, a German expert, who probably pro-bably knows more about, sugar beet seed than any man In the country, and who has enough statistics on the subject to keep you reading for a week. Five years ago (his beet seed marvel announced that he expected ! " ' ! auiu m) laisc enougn seed to supply all the western factories. The Great, Western sugar company of Denver has raised tnoich seed at Lang-niont Lang-niont and Greeley. And in I'lah the state agricultural college has been busy w ith I lie subject for the last 13 years, and showed in a station sta-tion bulletin last January that yon can grow good seed at an expense of $05 an acre, which inc ludes .$20 rent, and produced over 7 D II pounds an acre, which makes the cost product slightly over live cents a pound. This year the factories at Idaho Falls and Sugar City in Idaho have many acrc-i raising seed, while (hose in I'lah have over GOO. |